
Class L 2i Q 
BookJiia 








U\\^ 



THE 

Jl^onumettt of ^atrioti^m, 

BEING A COLLECTION UF 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 

OF THE 

{LIVES AND CHARACTERS OF SOME OF THOSE 
MEN WHO SIGNED 

THE 

AND 

BRIEF SKETCHES OF MANY OTHER EMINENT 
STATESMEN, 

ALSO, 

GEJVERALS JtJSTD HEROES WHO FOUGHT AjYD BLEB 

IJ^ THE jREVOLUTIOJVAHY WAM, 

AND ALSO, 

lilie most Prommeut ChavacAers o£ ttie 

n 



WITH 
TO WHICH IS ANNEXED THE 

Declaration of Independence in 17765' 

AND 

George Washington's Faretvell Address^ 

AN EULOGIUM ON THE CHARACTER OF 
Compiled from the most authenUc .in J approved autUorSj 

BY JOHN RQYER. 



POTTSIOWN: / 

PUBUSHED BY JOHN R0YE3L 



1- 



BIOGRAPHY, in all its forms, is al- 
lowed to be the most fascinating and in- 
structive species of literary composition. 
It not only possesses all the advantages 
of general history, the variotis excelien" 
eies of which may be jadiciausly inter- 
woven v/ith the lives of eminent person- 
ages, but it frequently discovers the min- 
ute and latent springs of great events, 
which, in the comprehensive range of 
History, v/ould have escaped attention. 

Many of the attractions of Biography 
in general, and some additional advanta- 
ges, are possessed by cO'temporary BiO" 
graphy. The memoirs of men, who are 
the present actors on the great theatre 
of iiie, who acquire and demand public 
confidence, and from whom further re- 
suits of action or meditation are to be 
expected, necessarily excite a higher de- 
gree of curiosity, than the lives of those 
who have made their exit from the stage^ 



iiY PREFACE. 

l)y whom no future good or evil can !)€>• 
performed or perpetrated, and ^vlio, 
^^dej:id5 gone, and forgotten," are gener- 
ally carried down the stream of ohlivion, 
and swallowed up in the gulph of un- 
registered mortality. 

It must be SLdmittcd, that the blogra- 
plier of.de«^.eased j^€F^ns 13 ■ better ctia- 
bledj bj the independence of bis sitaa- 
lion, and a more extensive retrospect^ to 
estimate the degree of viilue and vice, 
and to appreciate the sum total of merit 
and demerit with greater precision, than 
the cotemporary biographer, who is re- 
straine/1, by the extreme delicacy of his 
tmdertaking, from giving the finishing 
stroke to his delineations of character^, 
whose incomplete materials prevent him 
from deducing general and important 
conclusions in their proper latitude, and 
in many cases, from discriminating be- 
tween hypocrisy and sincerity. Still, 
however, a writer of this description is 
better able to collect facts, and may in 
general, be more depended upon, as to 
the autheaticity of his testimony, than 
he who writes the lives of deceased per- 
sons. Many eminent men, respecting 
•whom posterity have cause to lament the 



PREFACE. ^ 

dieficiency of biographical information^ 
have passed their early days in obscurity 
and those who then knew them, were 
either too ignorant, or too unobservant, 
to be able to make any communications 
respecting them. When Death has 
once set his seal upon their labours, few 
or no opportunities offer of obtaining s^a^ 
tisfactory and circumstantial inform ation^ 
their early cotemporaries are, probably 5, 
also gone off the stage. From causes 
like these, how little is known of soma 
of the most distinguished luminaries that 
have irradiated the political and literary; 
hemispheres! Of many we know only, 
that they filled elevated situations, that 
they composed splendid worksj made im- 
portant discoveries, died in a particular 
year, and were at length interred in 
some venerable repository of the dead, 

America has had her full proportion 
of genius. In every art and everj^ 
science^ she can point, with pleasure, to 
some of her sons conspicuous among the 
nations of the earth ; and however pleas- 
ing and instructive it might be to detail 
the ives of all those worthies wli » sig- 
Balized themselves, either in the cabinet 
or tue field; during the reyolationarj m^ 



u PHEFACE. 

late War with Great Britain. Here may 
the youth, who wishes to act a distin- 
guished part in the cabinet, endeavor to 
imitate Franklin, Hancock, and Henry. 
Here may the soldier, whose only ambi- 
tion is pj^triotism and glory, be animated 
to acquire the laurels, gained by Wash, 
ington, Wayne, Warren, Pike, Harrison 
and Jackson. And here may the seamen 
dwell with delight and satisfaction, on 
the heroic actions of Jones, Lawrence, 
Decatur, Macdonough, Bainbridge and 
Porter. In a word, here may the sons 
of America trace the lineaments of their 
fathers' glory, and by their example learn 
to imitate their deeds. 

The ingratitude of Eepublics to their 
distinguished benefactors and heroes^ 
lias long been proverbial. But this opin- 
ion, like many others with relation to Re- 
publican governments, had its origin in 
the examples of Greece and Rome, and 
so far as imparts that ingratitude to those 
•who render important services to their 
country, is peculiar to, or in any way a 
consequence of Republican institutions, is 
entirely unfounded. Titles, at best, are 
but an empty reward^ and in this country 
they are altogether despised. The 



PREFACE. vii 

itames of Benjamin Franklin, George 
"Wnshington, Thomas Jefferson, convey 
to the mind more just and distinct ideas 
of exalted patriotism, of distinguished 
public services, and of real greatness, 
than could be done by any titles which 
could have been, given them. 



CONTENTa 



J- of Washington, 




: page, i 


Franklin, 


•■ 


♦ 44 


RUtenhouse,. 


,. 


. 58 


Henry,, 


. 


74. 


Kaiic<Ds^5, - 


o 


. 79.' 


Waan^jB^ 


. 


^ 


W-BfT^., 


. 


9© 


Miorgc^ 


» 


^S 


I^, 


• 


., Mt 


ArnoW, 


■< 


I'm 


Jones, 


'• 


131 


Bainbridge 


, 


143 


Porter, 


» 


, 149 


Lawrence, 


9 ■ 


155 


Macdonough, 


» 


15S 


Decatur, 


, 


163 


Pike, 


, 


. 165 


Harrison, 


, 


180 


Jackson, 


J 


183 


Adams, 


, 


. 225 


Clay, 


, 


228 


Lafayette, 


, 


. 232 


Declaration of Independence, . 248 


Washington's Farewell a 


ddress . 254 


An Eijlogiuna on 


Washin 


gton, . 273 



A 



LIFE OP WASHINGTOK. 

In the history of man, we contemplate, with partic? 
iilar satisfaction, those legislators, heroes, and philo- 
sophers, whose wisdom, valor, and virtue, have con- 
tributed to the happiness of the human species. We 
trace the luminous progress of those excellent beings 
with secret complacency; our emulation is excited, 
while we behold them steadily pursue the path of rec- 
titude, in defiance of every obstucticn; and we rejoice 
that we are of the same species. 

The authentic pages of biography unite the most 
grateful amusement with instrucdon. Truth supports 
the dignity of the historic muse, who will not admit 
of either fulsome panegyric, or invidious censure-— 
she describes her hero with genuine simplicity — men* 
tions his frailties, his characteristic pecularities, and 
Jhis shining xjualities. In short, she gives a faithful 
and lively portrait of the man, investigates the latent 
motives of his actions, anil celebrates those virtues 
which have raised him to an enviable pre-eminence 
above his cotemporariers. 

We sympathize in the sufferings, and participate 
the triumphs of .those illustrious men who stand 

" *'Majiestic 'mid the montiments of time;'' 
and the approbation of excellence in others, naturally 
leads the mind to imitate the object of its adoration. 

Among these worthies, who" have a claim to our 
gratitude and veneration, Gi;orge Washington, a 



<^ LIFE OF WASHINGTON\ 

native of the United States, appears in a conspicuc^s 
place, in the first rank. 

He was the descendant of an ancestry, not opulent, 
but ancient and respectable, frona the north of England^ 
About the year 1657, his great grandfather, John 
"Washington, possessing an independent and enter- 
prising spirit, emigrated tp America, and setteld on 
an estate, in Westmoreland county, in the proi'ince of 
Virginia. -His immediate issue, in the line we are 
tracing, was Lawrence Washington, whose son Au- 
gustine, was, by a second marriage, the father of the 
eubject of this article. 

George Washington, being the third in descent, 
from the European stock, was an American, by the 
ties of birth-right and blood, no less than by those of 
education and sentimexit. He was born at the origi- 
nal seat of his paternal ancestors, in the county of 
Westmoreland, on the twenty-second day of Feb- 
ruary, 1732o 

Primitively, to inspjre him with a love of truth, and 
to cultivate, in his infant mind, a rooted. abhorrence 
of deception and falsehood, appear to have been tjie 
early and continued care of his excellent parents. Nor 
jn relation to him and his future destinies, could they 
liave engaged in a more sacred and important duty; 
or devised by the aid of wisdom and experience, a 
4)lan of education of higher necessity or fairer promise. 

Ardent, enterprising, and of surpassing strength, 
his mind v/as peculiarly qualified to lead or to com- 
jmand. Forordinary operations, it had neither fitness 
mov predilection; nor, from his tenth year, could it 
ever be easily seduced into childish sports. 

Without the sentiments, then, so wiselv and pious- 
ly inculated by his parents, a love of truth, an abhor- 
rence of falsehood, which constitute the basis of sound 
morality, it might, by^Decoming the harbor of vice and 
.dishonour, have proved to his cotemporarie's, instead . 
cf a bleasing, a source of serious and lasting misfor- 
xuneo gnamoured of employment, and formed for 



LIFE OP WASHINGTON.. ^ 

high exploits, it could not, under circumstances fa- 
vourable for action, have failed to transmit to posteri- 
ty, some enduring memorials of its powers. In 
achievements, advantageous or injurious, in no com- 
mon degree, it was destined to signalize itself. 

So faithfully was this scheme of instruction admin- 
istered, that it proved, in its issue, completely success- 
ful. By those who are entitled to credit, it is asserted, 
that, on no occasion, either to insure a favour or re- 
ward, or to escape, anticipated reprimand or correc- 
tion, was 'the subject of it known to utter a falsehood, 
A sense of duty operating on a manly and ingenious 
disposition, induced him to acknowledge, W'lr:.- 1 
prevarication, whatever faults the wantonness of child- 
hood might have seduced him to commit. So pro-^ 
verbial did his adherence to truth, and the perfect cor- 
rectness of his repre&f.ntations become, that wheii, at 
school, disputes arose among his companions, as to the 
existence or character of facts or occurrences, where 
he was alleged to have been present, he wasur.iformljr 
Galled on, to settle the eootroversy; and appeals fron^ 
hi» decision were exceedingly rare. 

These things, small in themselves, would be unwor* 
thy of record, as the mere attributes of the child; bug 
they swell into importance, from their intimate con- 
nexion with the transcendent worth and greatness of 
the man. ^ So true, and so important, in their applica- 
tion, are the lines of the poet: 

"Tis education forms the solid mind, 
*'Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined/' 

Before he had completed his tenth year, young 
Washington, having had the misfortune to be deprived 
of his father, was left to the care of a widowed mother, 
under circumstances, which did not permit him to re- 
ceive the advantages of a liberal education. 

The knowledge of mathematics excepted, in which, 
from the bent and aptitude of his genius to that sci- 
ence, he made considerable progress, his scholastic 
attainments appear to have been limited. In tha 
homely language of the times, "to read, write, and ^l- 



^ LIFE OP WASIJINGT©^- 

pher,*' constituted the complement of le»rning allots 
Uzt to him, who was destined to prove the glory of 
his age; and to rank at the head of the ornaments of 
history. But so vigorous were the seeds of great.- 
23ess implanted in his nature, that but little cultwation 
»i'as requisite for their growth. 

Ha is said to have manifested, at an early period a 
Strong predilection for the military profession. Ba- 
sides an unusual attachment to firearms, and a dexteri- 
ty in using them, beyond his years^ he was in the con- 
stant practice of drilling his companions, forming 
them into sections, arranging them in order of battle, 
and leading them to mimic combat. On these occa- 
sions, however inferior, in age and size, to many of 
his comrades, he was always, in rank, commander in 
chief. 

Nor was aature content to bestow on him only the 
soul of a chieftain. To render him perfect, in this 
respect, as far as perfection belongs to humanity, she 
was equally liberal to him, in personal qualities. 
With, a figure, masculine and well formed, and unusu- 
ally graceful and commanding, for his years, he pos- 
sessed extraordinary agility and strength. In run- 
ning, he had no equal; in lt:aping and wrestling, very 
*few. In horsemanship and hunting he also excelled* 

By pursuing habitually, during his youth, such 
4nanly and athletic exercises, as these, he acquired 
that vigour and hardihood, activity and address, 
which so admirably fitted him, in qualities of person, 
for the scenes in which he was destined to engage. 
For, to him whose province it becomes, to penetrate 
unexplored and dangerous forests^ to reconnoitre a 
foe, swift of foot, and forever on the alert; to endure 
the extremes and hardships of a camp, oftentimes un- 
provided with the necessary protection against the in- 
clemencies of the weather; and to lead armies in per- 
son to battle; efficiency of body, is no less requisite 
than resources of mind. 

When in his fifteenth year, his passion for arms 
disclosed itself in an act of a more decided character. 



JLIFE OF WASHlNGTOlSri^ 5^ 

Fired by the splendour of some achievements at sea, 
and the Americans having, as yet, no renown on that 
element, he solicited and obtained the appointment of 
midshipman in the British navy. 

But the scenes, which, in prospect, so attractively 
presented themselves to his youthful imagination, and 
invited him to glory, in this line of life, he voluntarily 
relinquished, at the entreaties of his mothero At so 
critical an age, when feeling is mobt unruly, and rea- 
son immature, did he exhibit a perfect mastery o£ 
himself, even in opposition to his ruling passion. 

From this period, we hear but little of our young 
countryman, until his nineteenth year, when we find 
bim, high in reputation, as a surveyor of land, in « 
frontier district, and one of the adjutants general o£ 
the province of Virginia, with the rank of major in the 
line. To have obtained, thus early, a trust and a com- 
mission, requiring, for their due execution, the judg-* 
ment aad experience of mature life, he must have 
employed his youth to excellent purpose. To tho 
•steadiness, fidelity, and perseverance of manhood, he 
must have united a commanding dignity of deport* 
ment, and a degree of prudence, and intelligence, alto- 
gether beyond his years. History furnishes, perhaps^ 
no instance, in which, without the intrigues of party,, 
or the oveVruling influence of the affluent or the great^ 
a confidence so extensive, as was here reposed in so 
young a man. 

But this is not the only particular, in which his 
merit was beyond example. He rarely appears, iia 
any capacity, without exhibiting a marked superiority 
of excellence. This is true, whether we regard himi 
as a citizen, or a statesman, a first magistrate, or a 
military chief. Unlettered as he was, even his 
writings are singularly perspicuous, chaste, and forci- 
ble. But on these topics, we shall have occasion, 
hereafter, to dwell more at large. 

A crisis was now at hand, in which he was to be 
q4^^ to Uie execution of a trust, much more ardaousf 



e 



LIFE OF WASHINGTOxS?, 



in its nature, and momentous in its issye, than anv, ui 
>vhich he had been, heretofore, concerned. 

France and England, although at peace in EuropCj 
might be said to be, virtually, at war, in Americao 
Each nation claimed the right of sovereignty, over a 
large unsettled tract of country, west of the Allegheny 
mountains, but within the chartered iioes of the Brit* 
ifeh colonies. In this disputed territorjr, France me- 
ditated the erection of a nuinber of forts, with a view 
to maintain her claim to it^ and, connecting Canada to 
Louisiana, by a chain of military posts, to confine the 
British colonies to the east of the mountains-. This 
encroachment, should it be actually attempted, it was 
the determiiiation of the colonists to repel by arms. 

To prevent such an extremity, if possible; orj 
should he fail in the tffVirt, the better to justify his con- 
duct, in the evenc, governor Dinwiddie, of the pro* 
vince of Virginia, resolved ro send a remonstrance to 
the French commandant, on the waters of the Ohio, so-* 
lemnly protesting against the proceedings of France, 
ti& hostile to the rights of his Britanic majesty, an J 
threatf-nlng to the safety, and iRJ.urious to the interests 
of his American subjects. Of this important state 
document, which might become ^ the basis of either 
peace or war, major Washington, now in the twenty* 
second year of his age, was s< lected as the bearer. 

Cut his mission was not limited, in its object, tor 
the mere carrying of a letter. He was deputed taex* 
plore, with a view to military positions and opera- 
tions, the tract of country through which he was to 
pass; to cosjciliate the affections of the Indian tribes 
inhabiting it; to compass, as far as possible, the de- 
igns of France; and to report, on his return, such intel- 
ligence, as might aid the govv-rnment, in its adoption 
of miiasures, to meet the occasion. 

A mission so intrinsically difficult, and, at the same^ 
time, so important, hiul never, perhaps, bc^en intrusted 
to the sole manage oient of so youthful a negotiator, 
Tg a n^d Ims »spif iJ^g) ^^i" a spirit of less ardour, iis- 



LIFE OP WASIIINGtO??, / 

tl-epiJUy, and enterprise, the obstacles that presented 
tiiemselves wcuid have app"eared insurmountiible. 

Winter was approaching; and the route to the 
French head quarters, lav through a tract ofAvilder- 
aess, several hundred milts in extent, embarrassed by 
mountains, intersected by rapid and dangerous rivers, 
covered by snows, of considerable depth, and inhabi- 
ted by several tribes of savages, some of which were 
known to be unfriendly, at the same time, to the Brit- 
ish colonists.' 

But instead of discouragements, these things were 
incentives, to the soul of Washington. Leaving to 
others, of halcyoEs temperament, the pleasures of the 
calm, and the enjoyment of the sunshine, it was his to 
exult in the strife of the elements, and the coming of 
the storm. Pleased with the enterprise, to which he 
was called, on account of the good it might eventually 
produce, he was the more enamoured of it from the 
difficulties and dangers, by which it was surrounded, 

Havingprepared for hisjournej^, without a moment's 
delay, he set out from a frontier settlement, on Will's 
creek, on the 15th of November, accompanied by two 
servants, and an interpreter, accomplished his mission, 
in a manner so perfect, as to secure the undivided ap- 
plause of his country, and returned to Williamsburgh, 
©n the 7&th day from the time of his appointment. 

During this excursion, besides, other observations 
of practical importance, he iirst designated as a situa- 
tion suitable for a fortress, the point of land, formed 
by the confluence of the Monongahela and the Alle- 
gheny rivers. On that spot Fort Du Quesne, subse- 
quently Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh, was, soon after- 
fvards, erected by order of the French. 

The journal kept by major Washington, on this oc- 
casion, was deemed, by the governor and colonial as- 
sembly, of his native province, fvorthy of the press; 
when printed, was eagerly sought after and read, by 
his countrymen; and procured, for its author, as well 
on account of ihe resg.yrces of his mind, as of his per- 



^ LIFE OF WASHINGTON, 

sonal prowess, energies, and firn^ness, a large addi- 
tional stock of public adaiiratiori, and well placed confi- 
dence. 

Induced, by the stormy aspect of affairs, to raise, in 
the following year, a body of men, for the protection 
of her frontier settlements, Virginia conferred on ma- 
jor Washington, the rank of lieutenant colonel; and, 
his superior officer soon after dying, gave to him the 
entire command of the regiment. 

Accustomed to lead in every enterprise of gallantry 
and danger, he had the fortune to conduct, in person, 
the first open conflict of arms, which took place in the 
war that was now commencing, between the French 
and the British colonists* Convinced of the hostile 
intentions ol a detachment *f the former, which had 
encamped near the Great Meadows, on the western 
frontier of Virginia, he advanced on them, under cover 
of a dark and rainy night, poured in a fire, which killed 
the commanding ofHcer, Monsieur Jumonville, and im- 
mediately surroundmg the remainder, captured the 
whole party, with the exception of one individual, who 
effected his escape. 

Not long after this an affair occurred, much better 
calculated than any preceding one, to try completely 
the military talents of our young commander. 

With nothing but a half finished stockade fort, and 
his own genius to defend him, we find him, at the 
head of three hundred Virginians, engaged m despe- 
rate, but unequal combat, with a detachment of twelve 
hundred French and Indians, under the command of 
Monsieur de Villier. 

The action lasted from ten o'clock, in the morning, 
until sunset; during the whole of which, foremost in 
batde, and refusing refreshment, Washington fought 
without the stockade, openly exposed to the fire of the 
enemy. But, from the beginning, until the close, of 
his career of glory, the shield of Heaven, appeared to 
be before him; for, in the midst of peril, which so of- 
t^ja seemed to mena^ him with incviiable destructios)^ 



3LIFE OF WASHINGTON. ^ 

ao hostile hand was ever permitted to shed a drop of 
his blood. 

A parley being called for, by the French command- 
er, a negotiation ensued, which teiminated on the part 
of Washington, in a surrender of the fort, on condi- 
tion, that the defenders of it should be permitted to 
**march cut with the honours of war, to retain their 
arms and baggage, and return, unmolested, to the in- 
habited pans of Virginia.'* 

For their firmness and good conduct in battle, and 
a capitulation so honourable, with an enemy so 
far superior in numbers, colonel Washington and his 
officers received from the legislature of Virginia, a 
vote of thanks. In addition to their pay, three hun- 
dred pistoles were, at the same time, distributed among 
the soldiers who had been engaged in the action. No 
arrangements being made by the government of the 
coionvj for a renewal of offensive operations, during the 
presentyear,col. Washington resigned his commission* 

An open rupture between France and England was, 
in a short time, the result of so serious a collisioD 
between their colonies. 

Preparations were made by both parlies, to act 
with vigour, and on an extensive scale. 

General Braddock arrived in America, early in the 
year 1753, at the head of two British Regimtnts, 
with orders to proceed immediately to protect the 
frontiers, and chastise the enemy, colonel Washington 
accepted an invitation to accompany him, in the char- 
acter of a volunteer aid. 

The object of the campaign was the reduction of 
Du Quesne, a French garrison, situated, as already 
stated, near the confluence of the Monongahela and 
the Allegheny rivers. 

Ignorant, as general Braddock was, of the nature of 
the country, through which he was to pass, as well as 
the character of the enemy he had to encounter; and 
rejecting, from a sentiment of military pride, strength- 
ened, perhapsj in the present instance, by a ccnceii cf 



^0 UFE OP WASHINGTON, 

British superiority, the salutary advice of his Ameri*^ 
can aid, who was known to be perfectly acquainted 
with both, delay in movement, and a terrible disaster 
in battle, were the fatal consequencesv 

While a select detachnoent of twelve hundred men, 
under the immediate command of general Braddock, 
was on its march from the Litde Meadows, towards 
Fore Da Quesne, colonel Washington, who had been 
previously indisposed, was suddenly seized with a rag* 
ing fever, which compelled him, after a dangerous ef- 
fort to proceed, to halt for several days, under medical 
treatment; 

Having recovered sufficiently to travel, in his bag- 
gage wagon, he pressed forward, with all the eagerness 
of military enthusiasm, and, rejoining the detachment 
on the 8th of July, entered immediately, although much 
enfeebled, on the performance of his duties. 

On the day following, just as the army had crossed 
the Monongahela, and secure of danger, was in easy 
march towardts its place of desUs^ntion.nov/, but a few 
miles distant, in front, occurred that memorable scene 
of slaughter, known throughout Europe, as well as 
America, by the popular name of ^'Braddock's defeat.'* 

An ambuscade had been formed, in a well chosen 
position, by a large party of French and Indians, into 
which, b)' again rejecting, in a tone of haughtiness the 
the modest counsels of his volunteer aid, advising him 
of the probability of such an event, the British com- 
mader was unfortunately seduced. 

A conflict of the most sanguinary character ensued. 
It was in this field ofblood, where the hearts of the bra- 
vest shrunk, in dismay, from the dismal war-hoop, and 
the wide-spreading carnage, that the youthful Ameri- 
can, by his unshaken firmness, self-possession, and skill 
In batde, distinguished himself to the-perfect astonish- 
ment of his country. 

So deadly was the aim of the French and Indian 
riflet[ien,at the B'itish ofHcers, that, early in the actiotr, 
Washingion \yas the only surviving aid of ^he ill fated 



tIFE Or^VASHlKGTON. ^^ 

t^Braddoclc. This disaster, in itself disheartcmng^j 
trebled" his duties, and increased his exertions, to a 
tlegree that was incredible. Debilitated, as he was, by 
a fever, from which he had but imperfectly recovered, 
Le was seen on horseback, at every point of the action, 
but especially where the fire of the enemy v/as most 
destructive to the British line, directing the move- 
ments of the provincial rangers, rallying and encourag- 
ing the broken and desponding columns of regularSj 
and executmg the orders of the commander in chief. 

During three hours, he was thus exposed, far with- 
in striking distance, to the deliberate aim of some of 
the most deadly marksmen of the age. Two horses. 
/ell under him, and a third was wounded; four balls 
pierced his coat, and several others grazed his sword; 
but, destined, by Heaven, for higher purposes, his per- 
son was untouched. Every other officer on horseback 
•being either killed, or severely wpunded, he, alone, at 
the close of the action, was capable of service. 

What rendered his safety the more extraordinary, 
several ot the Indians afterwards acknowledged, that, 
when but a few paces distant from feim, they aim'td 
their shot repeatedly at his breast. His escape, under 
these circumstances, began to produce among them a 
4irm belief, that by virtue oi" some supernatural agency 
his person, for the time, was rendered invulnerable. 

Pardy on account of a preservation so signal, in the 
midst of perils, so numerous and menacing, and, in 
part, from the well tried heroism ol his character, an 
able and pious divine, of the day, declared, in a strain 
of impassioned eloquence, that he could not but con- 
sider him as preserved by Heaven for some very dis- 
tinguished service to his country. 

When in the course of the battle, general Braddock 
who, at the head of his troops, had gallantly presented 
himself, as a mark for the riflemen, fell, under a wound, 
that, in a few days, proved mortal, the panic of bis re- 
gulars became universal, and their ilight from the com- 
'bi\tj disorderly and precipitiite. But, not so wiih 



i^ LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Washington, and the surviving remnant of his bravfe 
Virginians. They lingerdd on the field, with unyield- 
ing obstinacy, protected the rear of their routed com- 
panions, and r- :cued from the butchery of tlie hatchet 
and the scalping kiite^the person of the wounded com- 
mander in ch'i ;r. 

Under Providence, it was the good conduct of co» 
lonel Washington, in battle and retreat, that saved the 
army from utter extermination. It was the belief of 
every one — nor did thousands hesitate, loudly to ex- 
press it — that had he been invested with the chief 
command, the disasters of the day would nol have oc- 
curred. 

By the discomfiture and retreat of the army of 
Braddock, the frontiers of Virginia were again expo« 
sed to the incursions and massacres of a victorious 
foe. For protection and safety, the trust of his na- 
tive province, was instinctively reposed in the genius 
ofWashmgton. So unlimited was her confidence in 
his judgment and skill, thai, in her scheme of defence, 
she not only appointed him commander in chief of all 
the coloniel troops to be raised on the occasion, but 
vested in him the privilege of nominating his field 
officers. 

From this time, until the close of hostilities in 
1788^ a period of about three years, the life of our 
young countryman presented a scene of unremitting 
action, solicitude and toil. 

To defend, with a very limited body of troops, a 
frontier of nearly four hundred miles in extent, easily 
passable at almost any point, against an enemy intre- 
pid, artful, and forever on the alert; that skulked by 
day, and ravaged by night, substituting murder for 
honorable war — -against such an enemy, to conduct a 
defence so diyproportioned to his means, was a task 
too arduous for man to perform. It was during his 
devotion to it, and while his distracted fellow sub- 
jects were implorbig from him succours he was una- 
ble to aflbrd, that ht expressed hinoself^ by a letter, in 



L^JFE OF WASHINGTON, 



ia 



the following terms: "The supplicating tears of the 
women, and the moving petitions of the men, melt me: 
^vith such deadly sorrow, that, I solmly declare, if I 
know my own mind, I could offer myself a willing 
sacrifice to the butchering enemy, provided that could 
contribute to the people's ease." 

Difficult, and ot" great responsibility, as was the ftp- 
pointment he held, his popularity, while toiling in the 
discharge of the duties of it, continuing to increase, he 
left it with more reputation than he accepted it: a cir- 
cumstance of rare occurrence, in any thing connected 
with the feelings of the multitude. In the midst of 
their distresses, when their sufferings where such as 
imight have wrung from their expressions of deep dis- 
satisfaction, with every thing earthly, the people of 
the frontiers were never heard to murmur a complaint; 
against the conduct of Washington. With a degree 
O'i unanimity, but very seldom witnessed, all seemed 
convinced, that whatever was within the compass of 
human achievement, he faithfully performed. 

Of all that he recomraended to the government of 
Virginia, for the permanent security and tranquillity 
of the province, his favourite measure was the reduc- 
tion of Fort Du Quesne« ^'•^levcr^'^'' said he in a letter 
to a friend, '*wiU the knife and the hatchet cease to be 
siained in the blood of the frontier inhabitants, until 
that fortress be within our power. Better to sacri£ce 
ia the reduction of it, another ariny, tnan that the en- 
terprise be abandoned." 

The event, in relation to this point, fully evinced the 
correctness of his views, and the soundness of his 
judgement. No sooner did Fort Du Quesne pass 
into the possession of the British, in 1758, than the 
war of the frontiers was completely at an end. 

I'he marauding and murdering parties of savages^ 
heretofore so fatal and alarming in their incursions, 
having, now, on the borders of the colonies, neither a 
place of common rendezvous, in which tu concert 
^heir plans of invasion, a strong hold to fiy to on oc- 



i^ LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

casionB of clanger, nor artful counsellors to encourage 
and reward them in the practice of rapine, and the 
pursuit of blood, ceased to be troublesome to the re- 
pose of the inhabitants. 

With thexlose of the campaign of 1 758, active hos- 
tilities being now at an end, terminated the career of 
colonel Washington as a provincial officer. 

On resigning his commission, and retiring from the 
army, he received in a most affectionate address, the 
thanks of his regiment; and carried with him the es- 
teem of the British officers, and the gratitude and love 
of his native province, which he had so highly honour- 
€d and so nobly served. 

Scarcely had he reposed from the toils of war, 
iwhen, in reward for all he had performed and enduted, 
he was favoured, in marriage, with the hand of Mrs. 
Custis, who, to an elegant person, and an ample for- 
tune, united all the qualities of a fine woman, and the 
attainments and polish of an accomplished lady. 

A few years previously, he had received, on the 
death of an elder brother, a valuable estate, denom mat- 
ed Mount Vernon, pleasantly situated on the banks of 
the Potomac. On this he settled soon after his mar- 
riage, and, forgetting in the lap of domestic happiness 
the fatigues and solicitudes of military life, exchanged 
in a short time, the character of the ablest soldier of 
thex:ountry, for that uf the most skilful cultivator of 
the soil. 

From the beauties of its scenery, the salubrity of it-s 
situation, and a sentiment of attachment to his brother^ 
who bequeathed it to him. Mount Vernon had for 
Washington all the attractions a place of residence 
could possibly possess. In that delightful and fa- 
vourite spotp surrounded by whatever renders life de- 
sirable, 

*'A nfttion^s praise, friends, health, eonnubiil love, 
"A conscience peaceful, and approving- Heaven," 
lie devoted himself, for a period of fifteen years, ex- 
clusively to agricultural and domestic pursuits,* except, 
sthat he served as a member of the house of burgesses 



LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 



15 



of Virginia, and a judge of the court of the county in 
tvhich he resided. In these capacities he acquitted 
himself with great intelligence, purity and honour, 
enlarged his experience in the transaction of public 
business, and acquired much useful and practical 
knowledge in the science of civil government. 

During this interval, the conflicting claims of Great 
Britain and America were often times a subject of 
serious discussion in the legislature of Virginia. On 
these occasions, V/ashington steadily attached himself 
to the whig party, and opposed, with all the weight o£ 
his character, and every argument his genius could 
devise, the right of the mother country to tax her col- 
onies. In consideration of this line of conduct, he 
was known by the name of the Virginia Patriot, 

In the year 1774, we find him a distinguished mem- 
ber Irom his native province, of the first American 
Congress, which assembled in Philadelphia, to deliber- 
ate on the rights and interests of their common coun- 
try, to remonstrate against grievances, which could no 
longer be tolerated, and, should the crisis demand it, 
to choose between political freedom and bondage, the 
resistance of citizens and the submission of slaves. 

Denominated, from his skill and experience in mil- 
itary afl'airsthe Soldier of Jlmerica, he was chairman, 
as long as he remained in Congress, of every commit- 
tee appointed by that body, for the purpose of public 
defence. And, when, ultimately, the injustice, and 
meditated oppression of the British ministry, forced 
on the American people the war of the revolution, he 
was unanimously elected, to the infinite satisfaction 
and joy of his country, commander in chief, of all th©^ 
armies of the United Colonies. So pre-eminent was 
his standing, as a military character, that his appoint- 
ment was neither attended with competition, nor fol- 
lowed by envy. It was an act of intuitive homag«^ 
paid by an enlightened and virtuous people, to an indi* 
vidual who was above rivalship. 

^ Illustrious as he already was, and inestimable a? 
hk services to his country had been, v/c novf behold 



16 



ZJQFE OF WASHINGTON?. 



iiim entering on a much more radiant and impoftaat 
career. 

Having accepted, with expressions of peculiar mod- 
esty, the exahed rank bestowed on him, by Congress, 
he soon manifested, in the discharge of the momentous 
duties appertaining to it, all the qualities of a great 
commander. What he had been in his youth, to the 
colony of Virginia, its vigorous and invincible arm of 
defence, he now became, in the strength of manhood, 
£o his country at large. 

To give a finished portraiture of all his achieve- 
jnents, during the war oft e revolution, is the province 
of history: the biographer must be content with a 
bare enumeration of them. 

It was not the least patriotic of his actions, that, for 
his services, as commander in chief, which were in- 
deed above price, he declined, from their coflamenca- 
ment, by express stipulation, ail emolument. The 
disbursement of the expenses, necessarily attendant on 
the station he filled, was all his country could prevail 
on him to accept. 

Massachusetts was now the theatre of war, the town 
of Boston being occupied by the enemy. 

On the reception of his commission, general Wash- 
ington lost no time in placing himself at the head otthe 
American forces, in the vicinity of Cambridge, 

His journey from Philadeljihia to that place, was a 
continued jubilee to the friends of liberty. He was 
welcomed into the townd and villages, through which 
he passed, by deputations, gratulatory addresses, pro- 
fesions of attachment and proffers of support. The 
liveliest hopes were entertained and expressed, that, 
under his direction, Heaven would be propitious to 
the arms of freedom. 

On his arrival at the American head quarters, he 
found an assemblage of brave^ men, anxious to avenge 
the wrongs of their country, but no army, in a techr^i- 
cal sense. Discipline among the troops, experience 
among the officers, skilful engineers, ammunitioa and 



i5FE OF WASHtNGTONr Ht 

bayonets, clothes and working tools, were wanting in 
a degree that was truly alarming. Nothing but the 
genius and resources of a great leader, could supply, 
on the very lines of an enemy, provided with eve- 
ry thing such a fearful deficiency of military 
means. 

Under these circumstairccs the first care of th© 
commander in chief was, to mtroduce among his sol- 
diers a system of suitable discipline, to create the 
means of instrijction for his ofliccrs, and to procure^ 
without delay, the munitions that were wanting. 

No sooner had he accomplished this, and prepared 
his army to operate oifensively, than he became ex» 
ceedingly anxious for, some achievement, that might 
shed a lustre on the arms of his country, and confirai 
the spirits of the timid and wavering. 

For this purpose, he projected, against the enemy, 
various enterprises, all of thera marked with pro- 
found judgment, and some of them peculiarly bold and 
daring. But the prudence of general Howe, the 
British commander, who kept strictly within his lines, 
and other circumstances, not subject to human con» 
trol, prevented their accomplishment. 

Thus passed the winter of 1775 6, the British ar- 
my in possession of Boston, and the Americans of 
the heights and strong holds around it, without th© 
occurrence of any action to illustrate the period. 

By the course he pursued, and the measures he 
adopted, the prudence and skill of the American 
commander, were sufficicndy manifestedi but as no 
assault on the enemy's works had actually been madej 
and as the attacks and adventures he had secretly 
meditated, were known only to himself, and a few o£ 
his officers, some began to question his energy andl* 
(enterprise. In relation, however, to this point, doubt 
and uncertainty were effectually dissipated, by hm 
conduct^ on various occaaioip, in the progress of Jh^ 

2* 



IS 



LIFE OF WASHINGTQIn 



To say noting of the ardour and heroism, of hh 
youth, the current of future events exhibited, in a 
short time, abundant proof, that the bent of his mind 
Ivas to daring exploits; but, that a consciousness of the 
inferiority of his means, and a determination, never 
to hazard, for his own gratification, the interest of the 
cause in which he was engaged, restrained the native 
impetuosity of his character. To his moral and intel- 
lectual excellence, therefore^ not to any physical de- 
fect, was his Fabian system — his apparent want of 
enterprise, to be attributed. 

Weary of so long a confinement to his works, yet 
more afraid to verjture from behind them; and appre- 
hensive, that by some successful stratagem, the Ame- 
rican chief might yet compel him to open combat, ge- 
neral Howe, early in the spring of 1776, evacuated 
Boston and sailed to the south. 

Washington immediately entered the town, where 
he was received with grateful hearts and joyous ac- 
clamations, midst the praises and blessings of a patri- 
otic people, rescued from the oppression of military 
lule. 

New York became next the theatre of war. Fore- 
seeing that this would be the case, the American 
leader had some time previously, despatched a large 
detachment of his army, under the command of ma- 
jor general Lee, to fortify the place, and render it as 
Jar as possible capable of defence^ 

On the part of Great Britain, the campaign of 1776, 
was opened with great preparation and pomp; and 
presented, from its commencement, an aspect truly 
Jormidable to liberty. Including the army and navy, 
nvhich acted in concert, the royal forces, regular, vete- 
ran, and well provided, amounted to fifty thousand 
anen. 

It is worthy of remark, that, before the actual com- 
snencement of hostilities, in this campaign, generifl 
Howe, and his brother admiral Hov*rc, who command- 
ed, at the Uracj the British fleetj attempted to open^ 



LIFE OF WASIlkN'GTON. id 



m the capacity of civil commissioners, a negotiation 
with general Wasliington, witli a vii w to tflectuate a 
peace, and a reunion oi" the revolted coloiita to the 
mother country. 

Introducing the business, they sent to him, under 
the protection of a flag, a letter, aadressedto ^'George 
Washington, Esq.'' This he protiipily reiustci to re- 
ceive, because it did not recogniz< -.le apper- 
taining to his rank; observing ai U: nine, ihat, 
akhough it was not his practice to ''i^acnhce essen- 
tials to punctilio, yet, in this instance, he deemed it a 
duty to his country, to insist on that respect, which-^ 
in any othfx than a public view, he v/ould willmgly 
have waved." 

Soon afterwards, adjutant general Patterson, of the 
British army, arrived at the American head quarters, 
bearing a letter from general Howe, addressed to 
*' George Washington, &c. &c. &c." 

Alter presenting himselt to the commander ia 
chief, with many civil and complimentary txpvessions, 
the royal messenger ventured to hope, that the ad- 
dress of the letter he bore would be sali^iacrory, in- 
asmuch as the el Cisteras it contained, might be con- 
sidered as implyuig every thing. This courdy exor- 
dium was accompanied with an assurance, that, by 
such a procedure, the commissioners of his Britanic 
majesty, meant no disrespect to the American com- 
mander; but, that they enteriained for him, ptrsonally, 
the highest regard. 

General vVashington replied in substance, that he 
perceived, in the address of the letter, no recognition 
of his military rank, or public station; '*that it was 
true, the et Ccsteras implied every thing, but they al- 
so implied an> thing; and that he should, therefore, 
decline the receiving any letter, directed to him, as a 
private person, when it related to his public sta- 
tion.'' 

In a conference v;hlch ensued, the adjutant general 
observed, that the British commissioners were cloth- 



^^' MFB OF WASHINGTON. 

ed with great powers, and would be exceedingly hap- 
py, in effecting an accommadation. The sententious 
reply was, '* that, from what appeared, their powers 
were only to grant pardons; and that they who had 
Gommitled no fault, wanted no pardon." 

In the present campaign, hostilities did not com* 
tnence until th« month of August. 

To cope with the powerful and veteran arms of 
Britain, which v/ere posted on Long and Staten isl- 
ands, Washington's whole command did not exceed 
twenty-seven thousand men. Of these, two-thirds 
were militia, and one-fourth of the whole were on the 
sick list. 

By unremitting vigilance and exertion, in superin- 
tending every thing, in personi and by a series of wise 
preparatory measures, he had endeavored from the 
commencement of the season, to mature his troops 
for vigorous action^. 

A system of strict discipline was introduced into 
the arniyj an attempt was made to awaken the patn-- 
otisni, pride and domestic feelings of the soldiery and 
officers, by some of the most eloquent and touching 
addresses, that were ever penned; and to operate on 
their fears, as well as oa the nobler feelings of their 
nature, orders, were given, to shoot, on the spot, eve- 
?y one who should shrink from his duty in battle. 

So excellently were the American forces posted' 
and arranged, that, ahhough greatly superior in num- 
l)ers and discipline, the enemy were for a time, CX" 
ceedingly cautious in commencing their operations. 

At length, on the 27th of August, a memorable 
battle was fought on Long Islandjm which, a large 
body of Americans, under the command of genera! 
Sullivan, was every where defeated with great slagh- 
ter. In the actual command of this affair, genera! 
Washington had no concern. 

Perceiving, however, that the fortune of the day 
was fearfully against him, he passed, in person, over 
^^ East rJLysjTj, wnh a vUw t© ch^ek the advance ol" 



LIFE OF WASIIINGTO^^ Si 

the victorious enemy, until his troops could be with- 
drawn entirely Ironn the island'. This he tfFtcted, 
%vith a degree of ability and skill, \shich would alone, 
have designated him a great commander. 

The two armies were within mubket shot of each 
®ther, with a slight tmintnct betwetn then.; the width 
ei the East rivtr, is about half a mile; and the nunfi- 
cr of troops to be transpor^ted over it was nine thou- 
sand, with their baggage, tents, and field ariiiltry. 

With such address was the movement conducted, 
that the retreat was completed before the emm}' sus- 
pected its commencement. Washingron superintend- 
ed, in person, the whole transaction. During the per- 
formance of these duties, he was forty-eight hours 
without sleep, with but litle refreshment, and on 
horseback the principal part of the time. 

In this secret transportation of his troops, he was 
aided by a dark night, a fair wind and a heavy fog in 
the morning, which completely covered him from the 
view of the enemy. 

To be satisfied that nothing was left undone, be re- 
mained until the army, and all its baggage and equip- 
ments, were removed from the Long island shore, 
and embarked himistlf in the last boat. 

Not If^ng after this, an affair occurred, on York 
island, in which, for a micment, the fall of Washing- 
ton appeared inevitable. 

Stung to the soul, by two instances of dastardly and 
disgraceful conduct in detachments of the American 
soldiery; believing that, in such troops, no confidence 
could be safely reposed; that, from the want of firm- 
ness, the cause of freedom would be lost, he himself 
dishonored, and the yoke of servitude rivetted on his 
country, perhaps for ages, driven to desperation by such 
prospects, hishabitual calmness and equanimity forsook 
him, and, in the rear of his fugitive battalions, he in- 
tentionally exposed himself to the fire of the enemy, 
inthehopft that a ball might terminate his life, and 
save him the agony of surviving for a momect, tiie 
liberties of his country. 



».^ LIFE OF WASHINGTOt^. 

But, as on former occasions, to preserve hirn fc?- 
uUerior and higlier purposes, a protecting Providence 
appeared to be around him, until by dint of importuni- 
ty, amounting to indirect violence, his aids succeeded 
in removing him from danger. 

The American commander next presents himself 
under circumstances much more disastrous, and in a 
conjunction of affairs, more gloomy and portentous 
than any that had preceded. 

We fmd him at the head of an army reduced im 
numbers to one-fourth of its original amount, in want 
of provisions, unclad, and without tents, although 
winter had commenced, suffering from sickness, and 
broken-spirited from dffeat and misfortune. We 
find him thus, retreating through the state of New 
Jerstfy, before lord Cornwallis, by far the ablest of the 
Biitish officers, at the head of an overwhelming force, 
healthy, flushed with victory, and supplied with the 
necessaries and munitions of war. Add to this, that 
the American people, in all parts of the country, were 
beginning to despond, and e^vcn the bravest were al- 
most ready to abandon the contest, and stipulate 
terms of safety with the conqueror. 

In this state of things, and a more cheerless and 
threatening one can scr.rcely be imagined, the soul of 
Washington, if not astually serene, was calm, steady, 
and undismayed i he was, literally, the stay and sup- 
port of his army. Without his spirits to sustain it, and 
ihe point of attraction he formed in the midst of it, iii 
consequence of the love and veneration it bore him, 
an utter and immediate dissolution of it would have- 
ensued. 

It was at this gloomy conjuncture of American af- 
fairs, that, to the joy and astonishment of his bleed- 
ing and almost subjugated country, the full extent of 
hib resources as a ccfTnmander burst forth at once a»^ 
the brightness of the sun from the bosom of an eclipse. 

On the 25th of December, the weather being es^ 
frsmdv cold, tlic Btiii^h and American forces wera- 



LIFE OF WASHINGTON. S3 

separated only by the river Delaware, the former be- 
ing encampt-d ui three divisions on the Jersey shore, 
at IVentoD, Bordtntor) and Burlington; the latter, on 
the Pennsylvania shore, immediately opposite, to 
watch their movements, and act accordingly. ''•Now,*' 
said Washington, *'ls the time to clip their wings^ 
when they are so widely spread " At the head of a 
detachment of about 2400 Americans, many of them 
militia, he projected an attack on the post at Trenton, 
consisting of 1500 Hessians, and ^ small squadron of 
British horse. 

The passage of the intervening stream, swollen and 
rapid from a late fall of rain, andfilled with large mas- 
ses of floating ice, presented an enterprise dangerous 
and appalling. But nothing could intimidate the soul, 
or shake the deliberate resolution of Washington, who, 
in the present instance, had successfully infused his 
spirit into his troops. The perils of the river were 
entirely forgotten in the glory anticipated on its eastern 
bank. 

Early in the evening of Christmas day the detach- 
ment was in motion, but such were the difficulties and 
delays of their passage of the Delaware, that they were 
not ready until 4 o'clock of the following morning to 
uke up their march on the Jersey shore. 

Divided into two cohimns, one of which was led by 
the commander in chief, they adi^anced in silence on 
the post of the enemy, attacked it almost at the same 
moment, and, after a short resistance, carried it with 
a very slight loss, killing and capturing about 900 men. 

To the British, who had heretofore been victorious 
in every thing, this was not only an unexpected, but a 
heavy and a mortifying stroke; to the Americans it 
was the day-star of reviving hope. It convinced the 
former that they were not invincible; and the latter? 
that they were able to fight and conx|uer. 

On the evening of the same day, Washington re- 
nurned to the Pennsylvania side of the river, for the 
«afe-kceping of his prisoners, and having disposed of 



S4j UpE of WASHINGTON. 

them in places of security, with orders to treat them 
with great kindness, recrosscd into Jersey, and took si 
position iti the village of Trenton. 

To retrieve the loss, and tfface the stain which the 
royal arms had experienced in the capture of the Hes- 
sians, lord Cornvvallis assernbhng the wh*)le of his 
forces at Parnceton, moved towards the encampment 
of the Americans, with a view to compel them to an 
immediate action. 

It was essential that Washington should avoid this, 
as he was by far too feeble to meet his adversary in 
open combat; yet, to do it by a retreat, would hazard 
the city (if Philadelphia, and check the reviving hope 
and confidence with which hi- late success had inspir- 
ed his countrymen. H.; resolved, therefore, in a coun- 
cil of his officers, on another high and daring adventure. 

On the evening of the 2d of January, 1777, the two 
hostile armies found themselves posted within the vil- 
lage of Trenton, seperated only by a small stream of 
water; the Americans having in their rear the river 
D laware, swollen with a fresh, filled with floating ice, 
and therefore of difficult passage, and the British forces 
within musket shot in their front, lord Cornwallis felt 
assured that they courd not now escape, but would be 
compelled of necessitv to meet him in battle. Under 
this persuasion he encamped for the night, deteniiined 
on action early in the morning. The Americans also 
pitched their tents, and kmdled fires, as preparatory to 
repose. 

But in a situation so perilous, when enterprise invit- 
ed him, VV^.^shington had other views than that of rest. 
At Princeton, ten miles in the rear of the enemy, was 
posted a large detachment of British troops. To at- 
tack this by s'.irnrise, not to encounter the main body, 
was now the object of the American commancler. 

The better to conce*al his movements, and prevent 
suspicion, he appointed a guard, to keep the fires burn- 
ing, aoH, within hearing of the British sentinels, to 
counterfeit the duties of military watch. These ar* 



UfcE OF WASHINGTO]^'. ^5 

rangCQients being made, he took up, in silence, about 
the hour of midnight, the line of march, and passing 
unnoticed the Itft flank of the enemy, reached their 
post at Princeton a little before sunrise. 

The conflict which ensued was severe and sanguina- 
Y\\ The Philadelphia militia being placed in fronts 
fell back on receiving the British fire, and were on the 
point of producing confusion among the regulars.-— 
The moment was critical — pregnant perhaps with the 
fate of freedom. Perceiving that every thing was at 
stake, Washington advanced in person towards the 
British line, regardless of the bullets that were flying 
around him, and authoritativeiy called on his troops 
to follow him. 

The movement was decisive. Seeing their vener- 
ated commander in danger, {and determined to sup- 
port him or perish in the attempt, the militia halted, 
and returned the enemy's fire, while the regulars rush" 
ed to the charge with a spirit that bore down all op« 
position. After a short resistance the British fled 
from the field, and were pursued by the Americans 
for several hours. 

The loss of the enemy in killed, wounded, and pri- 
soners, amounted to six hundred; the Americans had 
sixty-four killed, and about one hundred and twenty 
wounded. Among the former was the gallant general 
Mercer- 

So completely in this affair did general Washington 
tlude the vigilance of the enemy in Trenton, that they 
were preparing in the morning to attack him in his 
encampment at that place, when they heard the report 
of his cannon at Princeton* 

In his m. rch by night on this occasion, it is difficult 
to resist the belief that Washington acted under a spe- 
cial Providence, 

For a few days previously the weather having been 
warm and rainy, the roads were so deep and heavy as 
to be scarcely practicable for artillery and wagons.—- 
But on the evening of the 2d, several hours before the- 

3 



^6 LIFE OF WASHiNtSTGN. 

Americans moved from their position, the clouds were 
iiispersed^ the wind shifted to the northwest, and the 
cold became so severe as s^iddenly to freeze the roads, 
jind render them passable with'ease and expcditioa* 
This occurrence, common and without weight as it 
jnmay appear to many, had no small influence on the af- 
fairs ot, America. It strengthened confidence, and 
augmented exertion, by inducing the pious, very gen- 
erally, to believe, that it was a manifest token of tlie 
smiles of Heaven on the arms of freedom. 

It is not extravagant to assert, that the victories of 
^Xrenton and Princeton were decisive of the issue of 
ihe existing war. They procured for the United States 
the alliance of France and the friendship of other pow- 
ers and by convincing the American people of the com- 
petency of their armies, encouraged them to endure 
privations and persevere in the contest. 

But, under Providence, Washington was the author 
©f these victories; to bim, therefore, with the same 
limitation, we are compelled to attribute the ultimate 
achievement of the independence of America- 
Retiring now with his suffering army into winter 
quarter!^^ he made so judicious an arrangement of posts, 
as to prevent his troops from being attacked or insulted 
by superior numbers, and at the sam^ time to protect 
the country from the depredations of the enemy. 

The campaign of 1777 opened in New Jersey with 
a fair trial of military skill between the American and 
British commanders: the former determined ^o avoids 
the latter to bring on, a general action. In this contest 
Washington manifested a great superiority. Without 
either rttreatingor sheltering himself behind his wt)rks, 
he moved so circumspectly, and selected his positions 
Vf'ith such consumate judgment, that his adversar)', al- 
though possessed of nearly treble his force, did not 
dare to attack him. So vigilant and active too were 
his scautu and small detachments, that the British 
foraging parties could rarely penetrate into the country 
to anv distance from their main body without being 
Stssauited, and fre^uendy c?.ptur£d. 



LIFE OF WASHINGTON. ^T 

Baffled in his attempts against the American army^ 
and dreading the effects of" some new and successful 
enterprise of Washington, general Howe embarkftci 
in the month of July with his whole army, and touched 
first at Halifax, sailed afterwards to the south, aod 
landed at the head of the Chesapeake bay about the 
middle of August. The capture ot Philadelphia waa 
now his object. 

To prevent this if possibk, to gratify what he kne\f^ 
to be the expectation of his country, and in obedience 
to the express desire of Congress, rather than from the^ 
dictates of his own judgment, Washington, ou the 9tlR 
©f September, fought the celebrated battle of Brandy- 
wine. 

This was not only the most general, but from the 
amount of what was staked on it, the most importaaC 
action, that had occurred since the conamencement of 
the war» 

Although the effective force of the Americao com" 
JKander was considerably inferior to that of the Brit- 
ish victory appeared, at one moment, to be within his 
grasp, by means of a daring movement which he wa& 
on the point of executing; but, from false intelligence 
at that instant brought to him, which had the effect of 
producing a momentary delay, the opportunity for ac- 
tion was lost, and with it the chance of victory. 

But the misfortune of the day detracted nothii^g 
from the reputation of W^ashing.on. From a convic- 
tion that he had done every thing within the scope of 
the means at his disposal to deserve success, the con- 
fidence of his country in him remained unshaken,, 
So indefatigable and eifccfive were his exertions to re- 
pair whatever disasters he had sustained, that he even 
attained, in public estimation, a higher standing. He, 
whose firmness appeared to be augmented by defeat, 
was deemed invincible. To convince the American 
people, that neither his own nor the spirit of his army 
was in the slightest degree broken by the affair of 
Brandy wine, he shortly afterwards offered battle, which 
general Howe thought proper to decline. 



^S UPPE OF WASHlNGTOHa 

The enemy was now in possession of Philadelphia^ 
with a strong division as an advanced guard in the 
village of Germantown, 

That post general Washington attempted to carry 
foy assault on the 4th of October. 

For a time the action was desperate and bloody. 
The attack was planned with the judgement of a great 
captain; but the several divisions of the assailants be- 
ing prevented from acting in concert by the fogginess 
of the morning which obscured their vision, and other 
accidents occurring, from the irregular movements of 
bodies of troops but imperftctly disciplined, the enter- 
prise, which promised at its commencement a glorious 
issue, proved unsuccessful. 

For his noble daring, however, on this occasion; the 
Wisdom of his measures, which the fortune of war prc« 
vented him from accomplishing; the fortitude with 
ivhich he met disaster, and his abundant resourcea 
manifested in repairing it; for his "great good con- 
duct" in the whole affair, Washington received from 
Congress a vote of thanks. 

Shortly after the battle of Germantown, another trial 
of skill in military movement occurred between him 
and general Howe in the neighbourhood of Whice- 
marsh. In this, as in a former instance, the latter 
was surpassed; and, to escape the effect of some deep- 
laid scheme of adventure, returned precipitately to his 
post in Philadelphia, without effecting any of the ob- 
jects for which he had left it. 

The succeeding winter, general Washington passed 
in winter quarters at the Valley Forge. While here 
he was assailed with whatever could distress, embarass 
9nd disgust. An army naked, unpaid, frequendy 
almost in a state of famine, and at times of mutiny; a 
Congress shattered in its energies, and slow and en- 
feebled in its measures by division and discord; and a 
nialignant faction plotting his deposition from the su- 
preme command — these were some of the evils which, 
during the winter of ITTI-S, tried the paticucs asxc^ 



LIFE OF WASHINGTON, 



na 



firmness of Washington, But they could not subdue 
him. 

For the wants of his army, he provided, consider- 
ing his means, to the utmost extent of what humanity 
could perform: into Gongress he endeavored, some- 
what successfully, to infuse a spirit of 'unanimity, by 
awakening their patriotism, and faithfully portraying 
to them the dangers of their country: andy to the machi- 
nations of those who were meditating bis degradation,, 
he opposed, in silence, the rectitude of his views, the: 
services he had performed, and the unsullied purity and 
weight of his reputation. None of their secret in- 
sinuations- did he deign to notice; to none of their open 
accusations, did he condescend to reply. 

In evry thing he had the peculiar felicity to triumph,r 
His troops were kept in service, and restrained from 
mutinous conduct, by their attachment to his person* 
and their gratitude for his paternal cares, and unre- 
mitting exertions to provide for their wants; Congress 
adopted many of the salutary measures he recom- 
mended for the defence of the country; and the party 
of malcontentSj who were bent on his overthrow, frus- 
trated in all their schemes of intrigue, sunk beneath 
the weight of public odium, and the secret reproaches* 
of offended conscience. 

With the return of spring opened the campaign o£ 
1778, the British, now under the command of sir Hen-* 
ry Clinton, within their lines, the Americans in well 
selected positions around them. Having been, for 
some time, in the condition, and suffering most of the 
inconveniences of an actual siege, the former were in«' 
d need, on the irth and 18th of June, to abandon" 
Philadelphia and march towards the north.- 

In their retreat through New Jersey, general Wash- 
ington galled them exceedingly, by pressing on their 
rear, and was anxious to compel them to a general en- 
gagement. In this he was opposed by a majority of 
his ofiicers. Indulging, however, his disposition to 
fater^rise^ because he now thought his effective for^©^ 



4 

50 LIEE OP WASHSNGETON. 

but little Inferior to that of his adversary, and assufTJ^ 
sng to himself the entire responsibility in relation to 
the event, he adopted such measures as eftected his 
purpose. 

On the 28th of June, he brought the enemy to ac- 
sion, on the plains of Monmouth, After a day of 
sanguinary conflict, and a scene of fatigue which 
proved mortal, of itself, to many of the soldiers, night 
suspended their operations and the troops, on both 
aides, rested on their arms, on the field of battle. 

General Washington, himself, in the midst of his 
soldiers, the earth, spread with his cloak, his bed, the 
root of a large tree his pillow, and its branches his only 
covering from the heavens, reposed a few hours, re- 
solved on a renewal of battle in the morning. But in 
this he was disappointed by an unexpected measure., 
dictated by the prudence of the British commander. 

Crippled by the combat of the preceding day, and 
dreading soma more serious disaster on the next, gen- 
eral Clinton retreated in the night in such perfect 
^silence, that the American seniinels, posted withio 
snusket shot of his Ihies, were ignorant of his move- 
atient. 

Content with the advantage he had already gained^ 
and willing to indulge his soldiers in a longer repose, 
after a day of such excessive fatigue, general Washing- 
ton declined the persuit of his vanquished adversary. 

The Americans lost in this engagement, in killed 
and wounded, two hundred and fifty meni the British 
an killed, wounded, and prisoners, three hundred and 
iifty. 

During the remainder of the present campaign, and 
the whole of those of 1779 and 1780, it was not the 
fortune of the commander in chief to be personally 
concerned in any very splendid military achievement. 
But his great and patriotic mind was not the less ac- 
tively or usefully engaged, in superintending the high- 
est interests of his country. 

His correspondeRce alone, during this period, with 



LIFE OP WASmNGTOIS'; 



ai 



Congress, the governors of states, and the generals and 
otber officers, commanding divisions, detachments, 
and posts, would seem to be more than the business of 
an individual. But, to a man of a vigorous and prac- 
tical intellect, who recognizes no value in time, except 
the useful employment of it, a sphere of duties too ex- 
tensive for performance, can scarcely be presented. 

The war had raged for some time in the south. 
From that quarter, lord Cornwallis, in 1781, at the 
bead of an army of ten thousand chosen troops, ad- 
vanced towards the middle states, and, about the close 
of the summer, took post in Yoiktown, in the state of 
Virginia. Sir Henry Clinton, with a strong garrison 
under his command, was in possession of New York. 
General Washington, with a combined army of Amer- 
icans and French, was preparing to lay siege to that 
city, and admiral count De Grasse, arriving from 
France with a powerful fleet, took command of the 
waters of the Chesapeake Bay. 

Here was an excellent state of things, for a grand 
display of military policy. Nor did Washington suf- 
fer the opportunity to pass unimproved. 

Having succeeded, by means of an intercepted letter, 
in convincing the British commander, in New York, of 
his fixed determination to besiegethat garrison, he mov- 
ed by easy marches to the south, with a view to ope- 
rate against lord Cornwallis; and was so far on his route, 
before his actual intentions were fathomed by general 
Clinton, that no impediment could be thrown in his 
way by that officer. Thus did he again evince a man- 
ifest superiority in military skill. 

On the 28th of September, general Washington, at 
the head of 16,000 French and American troops, made 
a regular investure of Yorktown, v/here lord Cornwal- 
lis lay strongly fortified. Count de Grasse, at the 
same time, so completely obstructed all access by wa- 
ter, that through that channel his lordship cculd neither 
escape nor receive succour. 

Thus commenced the celebrated siege, which ^ter* 



i^ 



LP2E OF WASHINGTON, 



minated on the 19th October, in the surrender of Ictd 
Gornwallis and his whole army. Every important^ 
measure and movement connected with it, passed un- 
der the immediate inspection of Washington. The 
entire sceme of the campaign was his; and never, per- 
haps, in any age or country, has one been devised with 
more wisdom, or executed v/iih a sounder judgement. 

For the excellence of their conduct on this occasion, 
general Washington, with his officers and soldiers, 
received the unanimous thanks of Congress, 

This was the last achievement of arms in which it 
was his fortune to be ever engaged. In itself it was 
brilliant; in its consequences most important. It gave 
peace to his country; shed a higher lustre on the 
American name; and, in relation to himself, complet- 
ed his reputation as a great captain. 

In the winter of 1^81-2, when the American troops 
lay in quarters on the North river, a spirit of wild 
discontent began to prevail among them, in conse- 
quence of Congress withholding from them the arrear- 
ages of their pay. The embers of revolt, which were 
glowing already, were, at one moment, near being 
blown into a devouring fiame, by some artful and 
eloquent letters from an unknown pen, circulated 
among the officers, as v/eil as the soldiery, urging them 
by all the motives to action, arising out of suffering, 
beggary, and scorn, to appeal from the justice to th^ 
fears of Congress, and assert their claims, if longer 
refused, at the point of the bayonet. 

At this most critical and eventful conjuncture, when 
the sword of civil war seemed half unsheathed, Wash- 
ington was again the protector of his country. As- 
sembling around him his field officers and captains, hg 
addressed them, in a strain of patriotic eloquence, 
which proved irresistible, K^en as were their present 
sufferings, and gloomy their future prospects, as anti» 
cipated poverty, with its distressing effects and galling 
eoncomitaiits could render them, they became, for the 
siiomentj kaensibk to them allj and passedj before ^is^^ 



LIFE Of WASHINGTON. 



S3 



peysing, a unanimous resolution, to refrain from vio- 
knt measures themselves to discountenance it in others 
and, for the settlement of their claims to trust to the 
justice of Congress and their country. It was the 
personal influence of the commander in chief, the love 
and veneration his officers bore him, much more than 
any other consideration, that gained for patriotism a 
triumph so glorious. 

On the conclusion of peace, which soon afterwards 
took place, Wpshington, to preserve unsullied the re- 
putation of the soldiery, and prevent the mischiefs 
that might result from lawless combinations of them, 
still in possession of their arms, adopted principles in 
the disbanding of his army which manifested in hina 
great judgement, and a profound knowledge of humaa 
nature. 

Having passed a few days in New York, he took a 
solemn and affecting leave of his officers, who had 
fondly lingered around him for the purpose; and pro* 
ceeded to Annapolis, in Maryland, where Congress 
was in session, to resign his commission into the 
bands that had bestowed it. 

In passing through Philadelphia, he exhibited (o the 
comptroller of accounts, a statement, in his own hand 
writing, of all his expenditures, as commander in 
chief, during an eight years war. Including secret 
service money, they amounted to 14^476^ ISS. 9d, 
sterling; a sum greatly below the privikges of his rank 
and inconceivably disproportioned to the good it had 
been instrumental in procuring for his country* 

The scene of his resignation, at Annapolis, of the 
supreme command of the armies of his country, was 
august and movibg. He accompanied it with an el- 
oquent and impressive congratulatory address, on 
the achivement of independence and the conclusion 
of peace, which was reciprocated in a suitable and 
dignified reply by the president of Congress. Al- 
though he thus voluntarily, and with sentiments of pe- 
culiar gratification, laid aside the character of the 



B4 LITE OF WASBINGTON. 

highest officer of the United States, it was not in his 
'power to divest himself of that of her foremost citi- 
zen. The former attribute hav^ing been bestowed 
on him by man, was accidental and temporary; the 
latter, being the gift of Heaven, was incorporated ia 
his nature, and lasting as his existence. 

Happy in himself, from a recollection of the labors 
and dangers he had passed, and an anticipation of fu- 
ture tranquility and enjoyment; an object of the love 
and admiration of his couttry; the idol of the officers 
and soldiers he had commanded; and, bearing with 
him the gratitude and blessings of a liberated people, 
he now withdrew to his seat on the Potomac, and re- 
sumed his domestic and agricultural pursuits, resolv- 
ed, never again to mingle in the tumults, or encounter 
the solicitudes of public life. 

But from this determination future events compell- 
ed him, from a sense of duty, to depart. Endowed 
with every requisite to lead in civil, no less than in 
lailitary life, his country had not yet received from 
him all the services he was qualified to perform. 
Contrary, therefore, to what he once considered an in- 
flexible resolution, he felt himself again obligated to 
obey her call, and exchange, for her welfare, the retire- 
itient he loved, for the toils and responsibility of pub- 
lic station. 

We accordingly find him by the unanimous suffrage 
of his colleagues, president of the convention of dele- 
gates, which met in Philadelphia in the year 178r, 
with a view to strengthen and render more effective 
the federal union, and the deliberations of which re- 
sulted in the formation of our present constitution. 

On the adoption of that instrument by the several 
states, the eyes of America and Europe were instinc- 
tively turned to him as the first president. 

He did not, however, consent to serve in that capa- 
city, until after much and very serious deliberation. 
But urged by letters from all quarters, and convinced,. 
at length, that duty imperiously demanded of him tlae 



LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 35 

jsacrifice, be suffered himself to be nominated for the 
office, which was conferred on him by the unanimous 
vote of the electors. Thus, singular in every thing, it 
was not even permitted him to shun the public honors 
in the gift of his fellow citizens, although he exerted 
hiaaself as zealously to avoid being invented with 
tbem as other individuals do to obiHia-them. 

The first Congress under the federal constitution, 
met in New York on the 4th of March 1789. 

On his way thither to be inducted into the office of 
chief magistrate, Washington was received at the 
towns and cities through which he had to pass, with 
all the marks of honour and distinction a grateful and 
enlightened people could bestow* Gratuiatory ad- 
dresses were every v.'here presented to him. The 
streets and highways were thronged v^ith exulting 
and admiring thousands, anxious to behold the elect 
of his country. Triumphal arches were erected for 
him, and the materials of, which they were composed 
preserved as relics of invaluable vvurtb; crowns of 
laurel were placed on his head, by machinery ingeni- 
ously constructed for the purpose: odes, composed for 
the occasion and commemorative of his high and he- 
roic achievements, were chanted in his presence; the 
aged approached him with their prayers and benedic- 
tions; and, by the bands of innocence, youth and beau- 
ty, flowers were collected an"^ strewed in the way* 

Never, in honour of any individual, did the world, 
as is firmly believed, behold a buret of joy so univer- 
sal, so exquisite, and so sincere. I'o kings and em- 
perors, the homage of their subjects is ostentatious and 
loud; but,- as if paid to them in mockery, it is cold, 
counterfeit, and foreign from the affections. That to 
"Washington, from his fellow citizens and countrymen^ 
being an offering of unfeigned veneration, was sponta- 
neous, g nuine, and warm from the heart. 

This representations of the scenes tliat occurred, al- 
though to some, perhaps, it may appear exaggerated, 
if uot fictitious, is short of reality. No language caa 



§6 LIFE OP WASfttNGTOn. 

competently picture the exuberance of rejoicing, 
heightened by the play of the nobler aiFections, and 
constituting a perfect jubilee of soul, which the great 
and interesting event excited. 

Having been invested with the office of chief magis- 
trate, with the form and solemnities suitable to the oc- 
casion, he entered, without delay, on the arduous and 
responsible duties appertaining to it. 

The organization of a government for a great and 
growing empire, where conflicting interests are to be 
reconciled and provided for; where, at home, the spi- 
rit of freedom is to be fostered and confirmed, yet re- 
strained from passing to the extreme of licentiousnessi 
to establish foreign relations with nations formidable 
in arms, skilled in diplomacy, and ambitious of power 
and wealth, without being scrupulous as to the means 
of attaining them; to institute a sceme of revenue, suf- 
ficiently productive, yet not oppressive; to select indi- 
viduals, at so portentous a conjuncture, qualified to fill 
the offices of state: these are some of the high func- 
tions, in all of which it became now the province of 
Washington to co-operate in many of them to direct; 
and it must be confessed, that, for their due fulfilment, 
they require an intellect of the highest order, expanded 
and matured, by all that observation and experience, 
reflection and study, are calculated to impart 

Of the wisdom and policy of the measures of his 
administration, their felicitous effects on the condition 
o f his country constitute testimony ample and conclu- 
sive. 

Industry, in every shape, began immediately to re- 
vive and be invigorated. Commerce became active; 
agriculture prosperous; the sphere of arts and manu- 
factures extended; and literature and science began to 
Sourish. 

For an analysis of his administration, sufficient 
space cannot be allowed in this sketch. It may be 
permitied,Jhowever) briefly to observe, that the hostile 
tribes of Indians on our western frontiers, were subdued 



LlfE GF WASHINGTON. ^7 

c,r concU'iated; existing difEculiies with foreign nations 
were honourably adjusted; public credit was restored; 
treaties of amity and commerce were formed, on ad- 
vantageous termsj and, as the result of the whole, the 
country was peaceful, prosperous and happy. 

Of the administration of Washington, we may tru- 
ly say, with a late writer, that it was ^'founded in jus- 
tice, organized by wisdom, directed by virtue, and 
guarded by honor. Abroad it could not fail to com- 
mand respect, nor to be protluctive of extensive utility 
£»t home. It was a spectacle in polititical ethics, wor- 
thy to fix the attention and command the admiration 
of the rulers of nations. Ministers might be instruct- 
ed by it in the art of governing, and monarchs learn 
how to give splendor and stability to thrones. For the 
liberality of its views, the soundness of its principles, 
the correctness of its details, and the dignified gran- 
<ieur and firmness of its march, it was a chef d'ouvrc 
of human achievement." 

The close of the second constitutional period of his 
fidministration terminated the presidential career of 
Washington. Although assured, from all quarters, of 
easy success should he consent to continue in the ser-- 
vice of his country, he resolutely declined being again 
considered a candidate for the office. Of him may 
be said, what is not, perhaps, true of any other mortal, 
that, after a trial of eight years, during a most stormy 
period of the world, when dlrHculties pressed on him 
from every direction, he retired from a station derived 
from »he people, and supreme in responsibility and 
care, his reputation without a stain, and the confi- 
<Itnce of his constituents in him undiminished. 

He continued in ofHce till the 4Th of March, 1797, 
when he attended the inauguration of his successor, 
Mr. Adams, and v/sth complacency saw him invested 
^vith the powers, which had for so long a time been 
exercised by himself. He then retired to Moua6 
I'ernon. 



as 



LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 



Notwithstanding his maturity in glory, and weight 
<af years, he again, in 1798, stood prepared to emerge 
from the shades of his chosen retirement, and assume 
the chief command of the armies of America, against 
an invasion meditated by France; but, peace taking 
place without any attempt on the pait of the enemy, 
he did not actually appear in arms. On accepting, at 
this time the appointment to supreme command, he 
stipulated with government not to take the field, un- 
less, from the approach of the foe, his services should 
be v/anted. His willingness to submit to the sacri- 
iice, sustain the p-rivation, encounter the duties, and 
incur the risk appertaining to this station, manifests in 
him a degree of pure, magnanimous, and disinterest- 
ed patriotism, which, in the history of man, is no 
where else to be found. 

We are now approaching to an event that consum- 
mated the glory of VVushingtoo, by placing it beyond 
the power of time to diminish or misfortune to tar- 
Xiish it. 

On Friday, December 13, 1799, while attending 
some improvements on his estate, he was exposed to 
alight rain, which wetted his neck and hair. Unap- 
prehensive of danger, he passed the afternood in his 
usual manner, but at night he was attacked with an in- 
ilammatory affection ot the throat, so obstinate, and at 
the same time, so violent was the disease, that notwith- 
standing all that medicine could perform, it termina- 
ted fatally on the following night. 

His death scene was like his life, calm, intrepid, 
full of self possession, and free from complaint. 

Perceiving the inefBcacy of medical aid, and con- 
vinced from his feelings that dissolution was approach- 
ing, he requested of his friends and attendants around 
him permission to die witboat further interruption. 

iVssent to this request being signified by silence and 
tears he undressed himself without the least emotion, 
placed himself in bed in a suitat>le attitude, closed his 
ejes with his own hand, and expired v/ithout a Strugs 
gle o; a gsoan. 



LIFE OF WASHINGTON. ^9 

The melancholy event was soon announced in eve- 
ry quarttr of the United States. The manifestation 
of public sorrow was without a parallel. Six millions 
of people felt, on the occasion, the affliction of a fami- 
ly ibr the loss of a parent. 

Congress was in session in the city of Philadel- 
phia, No sooner did the rumour of the visitation 
reach them, than, rendered by the shock unfit for bu- 
siness, they immediately adjourned. 

On the morning of the followmg day they again 
met, when the mournful intelligence being fully con- 
firmed, chief justice Marshall, then member of the 
bouse of representatives, formally announced the 
event in a very solemn, impressive, and suitable ad- 
dress. 

It was in a resolution, moved by him on the occa» 
sion, that in language so forcible, characteristic, and 
correct, suggested to him, as he acknowledged, by 
Gen. Harry Lee, he pronounced the deceased, "first 
in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fel- 
low citziens." 

Letters of Condolence passed between the difFeren£ 
branches of the government, and, by a unanimous re- 
solution of Congress, a magnificent funeral procession 
took place the following week, and an eulogy was pre- 
pared and pronounced on the occasion by general 
Lee, of Virginia, commemorative of the character 
and achievements of the deceased. 

This was but the commencement of the public ho- 
nors that were paid by his country to the memory ot" 
Washington. In various other places similar proces- 
sions were formed, and in every section of the union 
funeral sermons were preached, eulogies delivered, 
and elegies written, until the whole population appear- 
ed to unite in one universal offering of homage to the 
man, who had given to them independence, freedom, 
and a gorernment. 

Nor did Euiope withhold her tribute of praise. 
Some of the ablest pens and most eloquent tongues in 



40 



LIPE OF WASHINGTON. 



that quarter of the globe were liberal in their eulogies 
on '■Hhe mail of the agey While living, no individu- 
al ever stood higher in the estimation of the world, 
nor has received, as I confidently believe, so ample a 
meed of posthumous applause. 

In his public capacity, Washingiton may be con- 
templated in the light of a warrior, a statesman and a 
writer. 

In the jfirst he possessed in an eminent degree ail 
the attributes, corporeal and intellectual, req^uisite in a 
eommander of the highest order. 

In his appearance alone he carried the prerogative 
of supreme authority, no man could approach him in^Q 
from sentiments of inferiority and awe. Yet, this did 
not arise from the sternness of his aspect, or the se- 
verity of his manners. It was the result of a cornbi- 
nation of majestic qualities which, whether motion- 
lessor in action, he uniformly although unconscious- 
ly exhibited. 

As a military leader, there exists in history no 
name with which he can be aptly and in all respects 
compared. In the happy mixture of deliberate cautroQ 
snd daring enterprise which he manifested in his char- 
acter, he appe-^rs to have been unique. His fortitude 
and perseverance were in some respects no less dange- 
rous to his adversary than his courage and address* 

In prudence and foresight he had no superior and 
butfev/ equals. Notwithstanding the vigilant, artful', 
and able enemies, with whom, he had often to contend, 
he never, when commanding in person, was surprised, 
seduced into an ambuscade, or compelled to give bat- 
tie on disadvantageous ground. Yet his own success 
was frequently owing to a sudden and unlooked-for 
attack on his foe# This circumstance is the more re- 
markable and worthy to be recorded, seeing that, 
wheu but a youth, he often commanded small parties 
on the very lines of the enemy, where ambuscade and 
surprise must have been frequently attempted. 

His firmness and self possession in the midst ot 



LIFE OF WASHINGTON; 



41 



disaster, united to the vast extent of his resources, 
enabled hini not unfrequently to turn to his advantage 
even misfortune and defeat. 

But the great strength of his military character con- 
sisted in his singular capacity to blind and mislead, in 
relation both to his forces and movements, and to 
adapt his conduct with wonderful precision to the 
state of his own means and the resources of his enemy. 
When in a condition to give batde with a prospect of 
success, no leader ever oifered it with a spirit of high- 
er gallantry, or staked more liberally his reputation 
and fortunes on the issue of the svvord. But, if oa 
a deliberate calculation the chances were against him, 
no art nor insult — not even the impatient murmurings 
and insinuations that he wanted energy of hisown par- 
ty, could force him to engage; In the battle of Bran- 
dywine alone did he ever depart from this principle- 
Even here it was the will of Congress rather than the 
impatience or importunity of the public that urged 
him to action. 

It was this capacity, the highest unquestionably a 
commander can possess, that led him with success 
and glory through the war of the revolution. With- 
out it, he would have wasted to no purpose the re- 
sources of his country, and ruined by misconduct the 
cause of freedom. 

Asa statesman and a patriot he surpassed all others^ 
in the purity of his motives, and in the steadiness^ 
warmth, and disinterestedness of his attachment to 
his country. No mortal except himself ever served 
his fellow citizens without emolument or any acquisi- 
tion of power, for the space of sixteen years, in the 
most elevated offices in their power to bestow. 

In this capacity his vi«ws were liberal, and his 
knowledge, derived much less from books than from 
observation, and a thorough acquaintance with 
man, was extensive, profound, and altogether prac* 
Ileal, He had learned to govern by studying 

i 4^ 



43 



LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 



Well the nature and character of the beings to Lc 
governed. 

Superior to party prejudices and local pariialities, 
justice was the basis, and public good the end of his 
administratiun. As president of the United States, 
every section of his country was equally an object of 
his vigilant attention and paternal solicitude. The east 
and west, and the north and the south, experienced 
alike the kindness of his heart and the meliorating in- 
fiuence of his great mind. As chief magistrate of 
the nation, the nation and all its interests were his 
care. 

Towards foreign governments, his conduct was 
regulated by the established principles of interna- 
tional law. While for their rights and interests he 
cherished and manifested a sacred regard, he exacted 
from them an inviolable observance of a similar con- 
duct towards the United States. In all his transac- 
tions, whether domestic or foreign, justice, impartial- 
ity, and good faith, v/ere conscientiously maintained. 
He appeared to hold himself responsible in his private 
character for any departure from right ^s a publx 
functionary. 

To scolarship, in the common acceptation of the 
term, he had no pretensions. Yet, for talents as a writer 
on those subjects to which his attention had been direc- 
ted he had few equals. In letter writing and public ad- 
dresses he furnished one of the highest models in tbe 
English language. Of all the most truly valuable quali- 
ties ofetyle, perspicuity, purity, strength, and dignit}'-, 
he was a perfect master. With an aptitude which char- 
acterised him in all things, the tone of his writings 
rose or fell,with the greater or less weight and eleva-^ 
tion of his subjects. Compared with some of his ad- 
dresses to his army, those of any other commander at 
present recollected are barren and feeble. No allusion 
is here wiade to the glowing speeches prepared fot 
certain favorite chiefs by the historians of iheir cam- 
paigns, but to those which the leaders themselves have 
produced. Yet it; may bs safely assorted, that some 



LUE OF WASHINGTON^, 



4tB 



if the military addresses of Washington vlll not suf- 
fer in a comparison even vviih the harangue of Galga- 
cus, from the pen of Tacitus, the fint^st specimen of 
field eloquence that antiquity has bequeathed us. 

Analyse the general character of our great country- 
man, and its principal elements will be found to be, 
firmness, dignity, strength, and moderation, consti- 
tuting in the aggregate a sublime monument of moral 
grandeur. With less of brilliancy than f'dh to the 
share of many others, it consists of a much greater 
mass of solid, practical, and useful qualities, and is 
therefore better calculated to produce on society a 
deep felicitous and enduring effect. 

To attain this moderation his difficulties had beerj 
great and his struggles arduous. His passions hav- 
ing been originally modelled on the same scale, and 
possessed of the same Herculean strength, wiih the 
powers of his intellect, to bring them into perfect sub- 
jection and rule had cost him the severest conflict of 
his life. But, as the hardest and most refractory 
bodies assume, when polished, the highest lustre, the 
calm of his passions, now subdued, was deep and 
ponderous, like that of the ocean, which uothing but 
the force of the tempest can disturb. 

In his private and domestic relations his character 
cxciied in ?11 around him veneration and love. His 
virtues, as a man, were conformable in lustre to his 
higher qualities as a first magistrate and a military 
chief. 

With a person, six feet two inches in stature, ex- 
panded, muscular, of elegant proportions, and un- 
usually graceful in all its movements; a hea^ moulded 
somewhat on the modclof the Grecian antiqiie, features 
sufficiently prominent for strength or comeliness; a 
Koman nose, and large blue eyes, deeply thoughtful 
rather than lively; with these attributes, the appear- 
ance of Washington was striking and august. A fine 
complexion beingsuperadded, he was accounted, whea 
young, one of the handsomest of men* 



411 JLIFE or FRANKLIX- 

But his majesty consisted in the expression of his 
countenance much more than in his comely features, 
his iofty person, or his dignified deportment. It was 
the emanation of his great spirit through the tenement 
it occupied. 

Such was Washington; the champion of freedom, 
the glory of his country, the founder and father of a 
great empire, the pride of modern times, ths ornameat 
of the human race. 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

Benjamin Franklin, L. L. D. an American 
philosopher a'-id politician of high celebrity, was bora 
at Boston, Ne " Eugland, in the year 1706. He was 
the youngest son of Josiah Franklin, a silk dyer in 
Northamptonshiie, who, on account of the persecutions- 
carried en in the reign of Charles the Second against 
the Nonconforaiists, removedto America, where he 
embraced the occupation of a soapboiler and tallow- 
chandler, reared a numerous family by honest indus- 
try, and was distinguished among his tov/nsmen as a 
person of sound judgment and sober piety. His other 
sons were put apprentices to diiTerent trades; but Ben- 
jamin was destined for the church, and, at the age of 
eight years, was sent to a grammar school. He wa& 
removed, however, at the end of the first year, to a 
school for writing and arithmetics and at ten years of 
age was taken home to assist in his father's occupa- 
tion. 

From his earliest years he discovered a passionate 
love of reading, especially the accounts of voyages^ 
2 id he mentions Plutarch's liives, and De Foe's Es- 
say on Projects, as among the few books of general 
information to which he had access. This inclination 
for booksj and the strong ayersioa which he shawe«2r 



LIFE OF FRANKU.V. 



4a 



to the occupation of his father, suggested the plan of 
binding him apprentice to one of his brothers, who 
had established a printing house at Boston* In this 
iiluaiicn, he had an opportunity of procuring better 
books, and pursued his studies vviih such avidity, that 
he frequently spent the whole night in reading. He 
soon began to commit his own thoughts to writing; 
and by making summaries of papers from the Spt^cta- 
tor, which he afterwards endeavoured to expand, from 
recollection, into their original form, he laboured 
to improve his style without any t)thc^r instructor. 
With a passion for reading and writing, he imbibtd 
a kindred one for disputation, and adopting the So- 
cratic method, he became dexterous in cocluting and 
confounding an antagonist by a series ol questions. 
This eourse gave hi mi a sceptical turn with regard to 
religion; and while he was young he took opportuni- 
ty of propagating his tenets, and with as much zeal 
as is shown by a new convert to any other doctrme* 
He was, however, soon convinced, by the effect pro- 
duced on some of his companions, that it v.'as extreme- 
ly dangerous to loosen the tics of religion, without the 
probability of substituting other principles equally 
tfTicacibus. The doubts which subsisted in his own 
mmd he was, perhaps, never fully able to remove; but 
he was not deficient in fortifying himself with such 
moral principles, as directed him to the most valuable 
ends by honourable means. He, by habits of self de- 
nial, early formed in his mind, obtained a ccmplete 
dominion over his appetites, so that at the age of six- 
teen he readily discarded animal focd, from the con- 
viction produced in his mind by perusing a work on 
the suhject. He now proposed to his brother, that if 
be would allow him per week one half of what was 
paid for his board, he w-ould undertake to maintain 
himself. Out of this litde fund he contrived to pur- 
chase books, as well as to pay for his subsistence, and, 
by his new mode of living, saved miich time for hi* 
fa'Xuiite pursuits^ 



46 



LIFE OF FRANKLW. 



Receiving some ill treatment from his brother, he 
determined to leave Boston, and seek employment 
elsevv'here. The brother had set up a newspaper, in 
which the apprentice contrived to insert some papers 
and essays anonymously, that were read and highly 
commended by persons of the best judgement and 
taste in the town. The young man began now to 
feel his importance, which was still more impressed 
on him by having the paper published in his own name 
that of his brother, for some political cff-cnce, having 
been interdicted by the state. In consequence of this, 
his indentures v/tr(^ cancelled. H.^ went on board a 
sloop, and soon arrived at New York. Finding no 
employment here, he pursued his v/ay to l^hiladelphia 
and entered the city destitute of friends, and with 
only a dollar in his pocket. There were at this- 
time two printers in Philadelphia, Mr. Andrew 
Bradford, and Mr. Keimer; by the latter of whom he 
was employed. Sir William Keith, the governor, 
having been informed that Franklin was a young man 
of piomising talents, invited him to his hoase, treated 
him in the mcst fric ndly manner, ard urged him to 
set up for himself; at the same time assuring him of 
his support and protection. Franklin attempted to 
gain pecuniary aid from his parents, but was disap- 
pointed. The governor then persuaded him to make 
a voyage to England, to furnish himself with all the 
necessaries for a new printing orlice. He embraced 
the proposal, and accompanied by his friend Ralph, he 
sailed for England in 1725 Before his departure, 
he exchanged promises of fidelity with Miss Read of 
Philadelphia, Vvith whose father he had lodged. 

Upon his arrival in London, Mr. Franklin found 
that governor Keith, upon whose letters of credit and 
recommendation he had relied, had entirely deceived 
him. He was now obliged to V/or^ as a journeyman 
|)rinter, and obtained employment in an ofHce in Bar- 
tholomew-close. His friend did not so readily find 
the means of subsistence, and was a constant drain 
upon the earnings of Franklin. In this great city the 



LIFE OF FRAKKLIN. 47 

morals of the young travellers were not much im- 
provtd: Rvilph iorgot, or acted as, il he had forgotten, 
thai he had a wife and child across the Atlaniic; and 
Franklin was as little attentive to the promises and en- 
gagennents he was under to Miss Head. About this 
period he published ^'A Dissertation on Liberty and 
Necesbity, Pleasure and Fain," dedicated to Ralph, 
and intended as an answer to Woolaston's "Reli- 
gion ot Nature." This piece gained for him some 
degree oi reputation, and ituroduccd him to the ac- 
quaintance oi Dr. Mandevillc, author oi the "Fable 
of the Bees," and some other literary characters. 
Franklin was always temperate and industrious, and 
his habits in these respects were eventually the means 
of securing his morals, as well as of rallying his for- 
tune. In the interesting account which he has left us 
of his own lile, Mr. Franklin has given a narrative of 
the method which he took in reforming the sottish ha- 
bits of his fellov^ workmen in the second printing of- 
fice in which he was engaged in London, and which 
was situated in the neighborhood of Lincoln's-in-fields. 
He tried to p(-rsuade them that there was more real 
sustenance in a penny roll than in a pint of porter. 
At first the plan of economy which he proposed was 
treated with contempt or ridicule, but in the end he 
was able to induce several of them to substitute a wirm 
and nourishing breakfast in thtr place of stimulating 
liquors. 

in 1726 he returned to Philadelphia, xvhere he first 
engaged himseU as a clerk in a mercantile house; and 
in the course oi a y^ar he became the snperintendant 
of Keimer's printing office, wliere he acquired so 
much esteem ard so far improved his connexions, 
that he resolved to embark in business for himself. 
He entered into partnership with a fellow workman, 
named Meredith, whose Triends were enabled to fur- 
nish a supply of money sufficient for the concern, 
which was no doubt very small; for Franklin has re- 
corded the high degree of pleasure which he expert* 



48 LWE OF FltANKLlN". 

cnced from a payment of five shillings on!)*, the first 
fruits of their earnings. ^'The recollection," s«ys 
this noble spirited man, *'of what I felt on this occa- 
sion, has rendered rne inore disposed, than perhaps I 
might otherwise have been, to encourage young begin- 
ners in trade." His habitual industry and undevia- 
ting punctuality obtained him the notice and business 
of the principal people in the place. He instituted a 
club under the name of "The Janto^" for the purpose 
of the discussion of political and philosophical ques- 
tions, which proved an excellent school for the mutu- 
al improvement of its several members. The test 
proposed to every candidate before his admission was 
this: '-Do you sincerely declare that you love man- 
kind in general, of what profession or religion soever? 
Do you think any person ought be harmed in his bo- 
dy, name, or goods, for mere speculative opinions, or 
his external way of worship? Do you love truth for 
truth's sake; and will you endeavor impartially to 
find and receive it yourself, and communicate it to 
others?" This institution was continued almost for- 
ty years, and became the foundation of the American 
Philosophical Society. 

Mr. Franklin and his partner ventured to set up a 
new public paper, which his own efforts as a writer 
and printer caused to succeed, and they obtained like- 
wise the printing of the votes and laws of the assem- 
bly. In process of time, Mi::redith withdrew from 
the partnership, and Franklin met with friends who 
enabled him to take the whole concern in his owa 
hands, and add to it the business of a stationer. A 
discussion concerning a new emission of paper money 
taking place, he wrote an anonymous pamphlet in fa- 
vour of the measure, v/hich was received with ap- 
plause, and which contributed to the success of the 
measure, and to the prosperity of the writrr. la 
1730 he married the lady to whom he had pledged 
his vows before he embarked for England, although, 
from his m^glect of her, she had been before married 
to a man then dead. 



LIKE OF WASHINGTO^v^ *B 

The" establishment of a public library was one of 
fne useful projects of Franklin, which he brought to 
^iTect in the year 1731. The beneficial influence of this 
histitution was soon evident. The cheapness of terms 
rendered it accessible to every one. Hence a degree 
of information was extended among all classes of peo- 
ple, which is very unusual in other places^ The ex- 
ample was soon followed. Libraries were establish- 
ed in various places; and they are now become very 
numerous in the United States, particularly in Penn- 
sylvania. It is hoped that they will be still more 
widely extended, and that information will be every 
v/here increased. This will be the best security for 
maintaining our liberties. A nadon of well informed 
men, who have been taught to know and prize the 
rights which God has given them, cannot be enslaved. 
It is in the regions of ignorance alone that tyranny 
reigns. 

In 1732, he began to Dublish "Poor Richard's Al- 
manac," a v/ork which became remarkable by the 
number of excellent prudential maxims occasionally 
inserted in it; calculated by their conciseness, to be 
readily and indeliby impressed on the memory. 
They have been since collected into a single piece, en- 
titled, '^Ths Way to Wealth," which has been publish- 
ed in a variety of forms. 

The political career of Benjamin Franklin began ift 
the year 1736, when he was appointed clerk to the ge- 
neral assembly of Pennsylvania; an office which he 
held for several years, till he was at kngih elected ai 
a representative. In the following year he obtained 
the -valuable office of postmaster to the city of Phila- 
delphia. In irSS he improved the police of the city, 
\^ith respect to the dreadful calamity of fire, by form- 
ing a society called a fire companv, to which was after- 
wards added an insurance office against losses by 
lire. In the French vvar of 1744, he stood forth, and 
proposed a plan of voluntary assr^ciation for defence, 
Vvhich was shortly joined by 10,000 persons, Frank- 



^0 LIKE OFF RANKUN. 

Tin was chosen colonel of ihe Philadelphia regiment, 
which he did not accept, on account of the pursuits 
m which he was then engaged. 

In all important discussions in the assembly, his 
presence was considered as indispensable. He sel- 
<iom spoke, or exhibited any oratory; but by a single 
observation he sometimts determined the fate of a 
«|uestion. In the long controversies with the proprie- 
taries or their governors, he took the most active 
part, and displayed a firm spirit of liberty. 

Pursuits of a diifcrent nature now (1745) began to 
<*ccupy his attention. He engaged in a course of electri- 
cal experiments. Of all the branches of experimental 
philosophy, electricity bad been least explored. The 
ancients had observed of some substancct?, that by fric- 
tion they acquired the power of attracting light bodies, 
as down, pieces of straw, &c. To this strange pro- 
perty they gave the name of electricity, from elcctvam^ 
the Latin word for amber^ whicn possessed this power 
in the highest degree* Several modern naturalists 
repeated the experiment; whence it was at length dis- 
covered, that sparkles of fire and streams of light were 
emitted- from it to bodies in contact with it. The 
celebrated Bdylc, Dr. vYatson, Otto, Gruriche, and 
sir Isaac Newton, added some facts. In 1742, sever- 
al ingenious Germans engaged in this subject. Of 
these the principal were, professor Boze, of Wittem- 
berg; prv'iessor Winkler,'of Lejpsic; Gordon, a Scotch 
Benedictine monk, professor of philosophv at Erfurt; 
and Dr. Lnnolf, of Berlin. The result of their re- 
searches astonished the European philosophers. Their 
apparatus was large, and by meai\s of it they were 
enabled to collect large qnantities of electricity, and 
thus to produce phenomena which had been hitherto 
unobserved, Th^v killed small animals, and set 
spirits of wine on fire-; Tht.ir experiments excited 
the curiosity of other philo?iophers. Peter CoUinson 
luid sent to' tiie Library Society of Philadelphia, an 



LIFE OF FRANKUNo 



51 



account of these experiments, together Vriih an elec- 
trical instrumenl, and directions lor its use. Frank- 
lin, with some of his friends, immediately began t© 
apply to the subject, and in a short time he made 
many valuable and highly important dibcoveries, an 
account of which he published in three pieces, entitled 
*'New Exptrin tntsard Observaiinns in Electricity, 
made at Philadelphia in America." Having beea 
led to think, that in .the excitation of the electric tube, 
the fluid was conveyed from the person who rubbtd it 
to him who touched it, he designated the state of the 
latter by the expression of being electrified positively^ 
or ])h/s, as having received more than his original 
quantity while the former was said to be electrified 
negativdy^ or minus, as having lost a part of his 
natural portion. This led to the discovery of the 
Leyden phial, the theory of which is, that when one 
side cf the glass is electrified plus, the other side is 
electrified minus; so that in charging it, all that is 
done to throw the electricity from one side, and con- 
vey It to the other, while discharging it is the restora- 
tion of the equilibrium. He further demonstrated by 
decisive experiments, that the accumulated electricity 
in the charged side o,f the phial, resided not in the 
coating, but in the glass itself; but the most brilliant 
of his discoveries was that which proved the identity 
of the electric fluid and lightning. Their similarity 
had been suspected by the Abbe Nollct, and some ex- 
periments had begun to be m.ade in France towards 
the verification of the fact, but Franklin completed the 
proof of it entirely by his own experiments. In the 
year 1749, be conceived the idea of explaining the 
phenomena of thunder gusts, and of the aurora boriea- 
lis, upon electrical principles; he pointed out many 
particulars in which lightning and electricity agreed, 
and he adduced many facts, and reasonings from facts^ 
in support of his positions. In the sam.e year he 
thought of ascertaining the truth of his doctrine by 
drawing down tht forked lightning, by means of sharp 



B2 



LIFE ©F FRANKLIN. 



pointed iron rods raised unto the region of the clouds. 
Admitting the identity of" electricity, and knowing the 
power of points in conducting away silently the elec- 
tric fluid, he suggested the idea or securing houses, 
ships, &c. from the damages to which they were liable 
from lightning, by erecting pointed iron rods, which 
should rise some feet above the most elevated part, 
and descend some feet into the ground or the water. 
The effect of these he, concluded, would be either to 
prevent a stroke by repelling the cloud beyond the 
striking distance, or by drawing off the electrical fluid 
which it contained; or, at least, conduct the stroke to 
the earth, without any injury to the building. 

It was not till the summer of 1752, that Mr. Frank- 
lin was enabled to complete his grand experiment. 
The plan which he proposed was, to erect on some 
high tower, or elevated place, a sort of hut, from whicia 
should rise a pointed iron rod, insulated by being fixed 
in a cake af resin. Electrified clouds passing over- 
ihis would, he conceived, impart to it a portion of 
their electricity, which might be rendered evident to 
•the senses by sparks being emitted, when the knuckle 
or other conductor was presented to it. While he 
"»vas waiting for the erection of a spire, it occurred to 
him, that he might have more ready access to the region 
of the clouds by means of a common kite; he accord- 
ingly prepared one for the purpose, afBxing to the up- 
light stick an iron point. The string was, as usual, 
of hemp, except the lower end, which was silk, and 
ivhere the hempen part terminated, a key was fasten- 
ed. With this simple apparatus, on the appearance 
of a thunder storm approaching, he went into the 
iitlds, accompanied by his son, to whom alone he 
communicated his intentions, dreading, probably, the 
ridicule which frequently awaits unsuccessful at- 
tempts in experimental philosophy. For some time 
no sign of electricity appeared; he was beginning to. 
despair of success, when he suddenly observed the 
loose fibres of the string to start forward in an. erect 



LJFE OF FRANKLIN. 5*^ 

position. He now presented the knuckle to the key, 
and received a strong spark. How exquisite must 
his sensation have been at this moment? On this ex- 
periment depended the fate of his theory. Repeated 
sparks were drav/n from the keyj a phial was charg- 
ed, a shock given, and all the experiments made, which 
are usually performed with electricity. He immedi- 
ately fixed an insulated iron rod upon his house^ 
which drew down the lightening, and gave him an op- 
portunity of exaraming whether it were positive or ne- 
gative; and hence he applied his discovery to the se- 
curing of buildings from the effects of iighfening. 

Previously to his experiments in electricity, he ap- 
plied his mechanical and philosophical knowledge 
to the construction of fire-places, combining the qual- 
ities of an open grate with that of a stove. As a po- 
litician he had been elected a representative of the 
eity of Philadelphia to the general assembly ot the 
province. His principles in favor of equality of 
rights led him always to take the popular side, and 
he quickly obtained such an inftuence that he -was re- 
garded as the head of the party. The abilitv and' 
punctuality which he had displayed inhi<^ office of post- 
master, caused him, in 1753, to be raised to the im- 
J^ortant employ of deputy-postmaster for the British 
Goloniesj- and in the same year, the Acadamy of Phil- 
adelphia, projected by him, was estabhshed. I» 
1754, he was one of the commissioners, v/ho attended 
the Congress at Albany, to devise the best means of 
defending the country against the French. He drew 
up a plan of union for defence and general govern- 
ment, which was adopted by the Congress, It was^ 
however^ rejected by the Board of Trade in England^ 
because it gave too much power to the repfes-ntairves 
of the peoplej and it v/as rejected by the assemblies of 
the colonies, because it gave too much power to the 
president general. After the defeat of Braddock, ia 
1^55, he was appointed colonel of a regiment, and he 
repaired to the frontiers and built a fort* When, is 

5^ \' 



^^ LIFE OF FRANKLIN 

1757, the militia was to be disbanded by orders 
from England, he sailed for London in the capacity 
of Agent for Pennsylvania, the assembly of which 
^'as involved in warm disputes with the proprietary 
interest. After much discussion before the privy 
council, it was agreed, that the proprietary lands should 
take their shire in a tax for the public service, provi- 
ded that Franklin would engage that the assessment: 
should be fairly proportioned. The measure was ac- 
cordingly carried into effect, and he remained at the 
British court as agent for his province; and his repu- 
tation caused him also to be entrusted with the like 
commission from Massachusetts, Maryland, and 
Georgia. The molestation received by the British 
colonies from the French in Canada, induced him to 
write a pamphlet, pointing out the advantages of a 
conquest of that province by the English; and the 
subsequent expedition against it, and its retention un- 
der the British government at the peace, were, it is be- 
lieved, much influenced by the force of his arguments 
on the subject. About this period, his talents as a 
philosopher were duly appreciated in various parts of 
Europe. He was admitted a fellow of the Royal Soci- 
ety of Loudon, and was honored with the degree of 
doctor of Lav/s by the universities of St. Andrews, 
Edinburg, and Oxford, 

He returned to America in 1762, where he recei- 
ved the thanks of the assembly for his services, and a 
remuneratiou for his labours undertaken and accom- 
plished on their bthalf. He resumed his seat in thaS: 
body, to which he had been annu-ally elected during his 
absence, and continued to distinguish himself as a 
friend to th? cause of the people. The active part 
which he took against the proprietary interest, occa- 
sioned the loss of his election in 1764, but he was 
immediately reappointed agent for the province, and 
embarked again for England. It was at this period 
that the stamp act excited such violent commotions in 
America; and Drt Franklip, almost immediately af;e4^ 



hlTE OF FRANKLIN. ^^ 

hh return to London, was called to the bar cf the 
House of Commons, to give evidence respecting the 
dispositions of the people to submit to it. His repre- 
sentations, in which he evinced the utmost self pos- 
session and an astonishing accuracy and extent of in- 
formation, had a considerable effect in producing the 
repeal of that obnoxious measure. 

In the years 1766 and 1767, he paid visits to HoI» 
land, Germany and France, where he met with a very 
distinguished reception. Ab\)ut the year 1773, some 
letters of Thomas Hutchinson, governor of Massa- 
chusetts falling into the hands of Dr. Franklin, were 
transmitted by him to the legislature in America, and 
which he did from a sense of duty as the agent of 
the colony, for these letters proved governor Hutchin- 
son to be a secret enemy to his country, who stimu- 
lated the ministry to enforce their plans and who even 
declared to them, that ^there must be an abridgement 
of English liberties in colonian administraiion." 
But Dr. Franklin ever refused to make known how he 
procured these letters. In a verv short time after 
this he was removed from his ofliice of postmaster 
general for America. 

Finding all his efforts to restore harmony between 
Great Britain and the colonies useless, Dr. Franklin 
returned to America in 1775, just before the com- 
mencement of hostilities: and bemg named one of the 
delegates of the continental congress, he had the prin= 
eipal share in bringing about the revolution ar.d de- 
claration of independence on the part of America. 
He was sent by Congress to the camp before Boston, 
to confirm the army in their decisive raeas^ies, and 
to Canada to persuade the citizens to jom in the com- 
mon cause. In this mission, he was not successful. 
He was, in 1776, appointed a commite- with John 
Adams and Edward Rutledge, to inqoinr into the 
powers with which lord Howe was invented, in re- 
gard to the adjustment of our differences with Great 
BritAiQ, When his lordship expressed his concern 



^@ LIFE OF r-RANKLSNo 

at being obliged to di&trtss those whom he so mucisi 
regarded, Dr Franklin assured him that the Ameri- 
cans, out oi reciprocal regard, would endeavor to 
lessen, as much as posssible, the pain v^hich he aiight 
feel en their account, by taking the utmost care of 
ihemselves. Dr. Franklin was decidedly in favour of 
a declaration of independence, and was appointed 
president of the convention assembled for the purpose 
of establishing a new government for the state of 
Pensylvania, When ii was determined by Congress 
to open a public negotiation WMth France, Di . Frarik- 
lin was fixed upon to go to that country, and he 
brought about the treaty of allance offensive and de- 
fcn'^iv. , which produced an immediate war between 
England and France. Dr. Franklin was one of the 
commibsisncrs who, on tlie part of the United States,- 
sigred the provisiorial articlrs of peace in 178^, and 
the deEititive treaty in the following year. Before 
he U'ft Europe, he concluded a treaty with Sweden 
and Prussia. By the latter he obtained several most 
liberal and humviuc stipulations in^favour of the free- 
dom of commerce, and the security of private pro- 
pertv cluring war, in conformity to those principles^ 
whic'i he had ever maintained on these subjects. 
Havin?^ seen the accompiishmeot of his wishes in the 
independence of his country, he requested to be re- 
called, «nfi, after repeated solicitations, Mr. Jefferson 
W3S appointed in his stead'. On the arrival of his 
succes/or, be repaired to Havre de Grace, and cross- 
ing tlu- English channel, landed at Newport in the 
Jnlc cf Wight; from whence, after a favourable pas- 
&'AO[i\ he artived safe at Philadelphia, in September, 
t7S5. Here h-e was received amidst the acclama" 
tiovis of a vast and almost innumerable multitude, 
who had ff icked froin all parts to see him, and who 
conducted him m triumph to his own house, where in 
a few days he was visited by thj; members of Con- 
gress, and the principal inhabitants of Philadelphia, 
lie was soon appoiated president of the supreme es.-» 



Ui?:B OF FRANKLIN. 



57 



«?cutivff CQUncil, and, in 1787, he was a delegate to 
the grand convention which formed the constitution 
of the United States. Some of the articles which 
composed it did not altogether please him, but 
for the sake of union he signed it. In the same year 
he was appointed the first president of two excellent 
societies which were established in Philadelphia, for 
alleviating the miseries of public prisons, and for pro- 
moting the abolition of slavery. 

In the year 1788 the increasing infirmities of his 
age obliged him to ask and obtain permission to retire 
and spend the remainder of life in tranquilliiyj and 
on the seventeenth of April, 1790, he closed, in se- 
renity and resignation, his active and useful life, hav^ 
ing attained the great age of eighty-four years and 
three months. The following epitaph v^^as written 
by himself many years previous to his death. 

The body of 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, PRINTER, 

like the coyer of an old, book, 

its contents torn out, 

and stript of its lettering and gilding, 

lies here, food for worms J 

Yet the work itstlf shall not be lost, 

ior it will (as he believed) appear once mort 

in a new 

ai)d more beautiful edition^ 

corrected and amended 

by 

THE AUTHOR* 



LIFE OF miTENHOUSE. 

David Rittenhouse, L. L. D. FrR. S. the cele° 
brated American philosopher, was descended from 
ancestors, who emigrated from Holland about the 
beginning of the last century. He was born on the 
8th day of April, 1732, near Germantown, in Penn- 
sylvania, pbout eight miles from Philadelphia. His 
father, Matthias Rittenhouse, was a native of the same 
place; and brought up in the occupation of a paper- 
maker, in which he continued until the age of twenty- 
nine, when he moved to Norriton, now Montgomery 
county, and became a faimer. His mother, Eliza- 
beth, was the daughter of Evan Williams, a native of 
Wales; a woman of good natural understanding, but 
without the advantages of education. His parents 
wer^ distinguishtd for their probity, industry, and 
simple manaers. 

It is from sources, thus pure and retired, that those 
talents and virtues have been chiefly derived, which 
have in all ages eniightv.ned the world. They prove 
by their humble origin, that the Supreme Being ha» 
not surrendered up the direction of human affairs to 
the advantages acquired bj accident or injustice, and 
they bear a constant and faithful testimony of his im- 
partial goodness, by their necessary and regular influ- 
ence in equalizing the condition of mankind. 

The first indications of that genius which distin- 
guished Di'vid Rittenhouse in the world, were mani- 
fested at the age of seven, in the construction of a wa- 
ter mill in miniature. He was designed by his father 
for the pursuits of a farmer; and from his infancy was 
engaged in husbaudry. At the age of fourteen, he 
was a labourer, and employed in ploughing his fa- 
therms fields. At this period he more fully developsdi 



UFE OF niTTENHOUSE. 



5S 



the peculiar bent of his mind. The evidences of an 
uncommon intellect weje exhibited in a variety of 
numerical figures and mathcntutical duigrams, chalk- 
ed upon the fences, snd even on the plough with 
which he worked. Continuing in the ordmary occu- 
pation of a husbandman, nothing further occureJ t* 
illustrate his future greatness, until he was seventeeQ 
years old. He then con-^tructed a wooden clock of 
ingenious mechanism]; and shortly afterwards, Irom 
materials usually employed in snch instruments, and 
upon common principles, he made a twenf, four hr-ur 
clock. These machines aff-rd-d certainly vtrv une- 
quivocal proofs that their fabricator was no common 
man 

His father, not heing a man of more than com- 
mon niind,and not linich improved bv an early edu- 
cation, for some time opposed his son's earnest de- 
sire to renounce agricultural employments, tor the 
purpose of devoting himseU ahog ther to philosophi- 
cal studies, in uonrexl -n with «iome mechunical art, 
that might in the intt rim yield a suhaistence. At 
length, hovv'fver. hi? o'nj<-ctions were overcome ; and 
he supplied liis son with money to purchase such im- 
plements as were necessary to the business of clock 
making. 

Young Rittenhouse erected on his father's land a 
commodious shop, and commenced to mmufacture 
docks and mathem:^tical instrumt-nts. Such tools, 
necessary to his business, as he hat' not purchased, 
for want of money, he supplied by his own hards* 
Thenceforward, and until he was tweniy-five, he de- 
voted his days to his art, and, his nights to philosophic 
cal studies. This incessant application shook his 
-constitution. He was seized with a peculiar malady, 
which he him'self described ''a constant heat in the pit 
of his stomach, affecting a space not exceeding the 
size of a half guinea, and attended at times with 
much pain." From this sensation he was never ex- 
empted for the remainder of his life. To restore his 



6^0 LIFE OF RITTENHOUSE. 

health, he passed several weeks at the Yellow SpringHf 
distant bat a tew miles from his father's residencej 
bathed and drank the waters; and, from the use of 
this clvaiybeate, in some measure recruited. 

Until he was nineteen years old, he had enjoyed n© 
other opportunities of education than were furnished 
by common English schools, which the neighbordood 
of his father afforded, in which nothing beyond read- 
ing, writing, and the simple rules of arithmetic were 
taught. 

A happy intercourse was then formed betweea 
himself and the late Rev. Thomas Barton, who after- 
wards married his sister, Esther Rittenhouse. Mr. 
Barton who had enjoyed a good education, afforded 
his friend the benthis of instruction of a higher order, 
and greatly facilitated his int^^llectual improvement. 
Some idea may be formed of Mr. Rittenhouse*s 
pursuits, from the follovving extract of a letter to his 
friend Mr. Barton, written when he was about the 
age of twenty-four; 20lh September, 1756. " I have 
not health for a soldier; and, as I hav^e no expectation 
of serving my country in that way, I am spending my 
time in the old manner; I am so taken with optics, 
that I do not know whether, if the enemy should in- 
vade this part of the country, as Archimedes was 
slain while making geometrical figures on the sand, 
so I should die making a telescope.'* It may be just 
mentioned that the country was then engaged in vvar, 
with the French and Indians. 

During his residence with his father, he made him^ 
self master of Sir Isaac Newton*s Principia, which he 
read in Mr. Motte's translation. At the same time 
he became acqaaint<-d with the science of ilaxions, of 
which he, for a while, believed himself author: nor 
did he learn for some years afterwards, that a contro- 
versy had existed bet^iveen Sir Isaac Newton and the 
philosopher Leibnitz, for the honor of that great and 
Us'^iepj I discovery. What a mind was.here! Without 
the eriiaarv aids cf education, he became the rival of 



LIFE OF RITTENHOUSE. O % 

tv/0 of the greatest mathematicians in Europe, before 
he reached his four-and-tw^ntieth year. 

The great accuracy and exquisite workmanship, 
displayed in every thing belonging to his profession, 
that was fashioned by his hands, soon became exten- 
sively known; and the knov^ledge of his mechanical 
skill, assisted by his reputation as a mathematician 
and astronomer, procured him the friendship and pa- 
tronage of some eminent characters. The union o£ 
almost unbounded genius, great acquirements in sub- 
lime science, and wonderful abilities in philosophical 
mechanism, with an amiable and virtuous character, 
excited that celebrity so justly attached to his oamce. 

In the thirty-second year of his age he was employ- 
ed to ascertain and fix the boundary between Pennsyl- 
vania and Maryland, according to the decree of the 
lord chancellor of Englantl, directing the specific exe- 
cution of an agreement between the Penn family anci 
lord Baltimore. This service v/as performed with, 
great accuracy, and much to the satisfaction of his 
■employers. 

On the 2Qih of February, 1766, he married Elenor 
Colston, daughter of Bernard Colston, a respectable 
farmer in his neighbourhoods of the society of Friends. 
On the 17th of November, of the same year, the col- 
lege of Philadelphia conferred upon him the honorary 
degree of Master of Arts. 

In the year 1769, a controversy existing between 
New York and New Jersey, as to boundaries, Mr» 
Hittenhouse was employed to terminate the dispute, 
by ascertaining the line which should thereafter sepa- 
rate them. He executed the appointment with the 
greatest skill and fulelitj^ 

In January, 1769, he was one of a committee ap- 
pointed by the American Philosophical Society, to 
observe at three different places, the transit of Venus 
over the sun's disk, which was expected to happen o« 
the 3d of June following, in 40 north latitude, and 5' 
hours west longitude from Greenwich, As the day 
€ 



m 



LIFE OF EITTENHOUSE. 



approached, when this rare astronomical phenomenon 
was to manifest itselt, public expttctaiion and auxiciy 
■were greatly excited. Its imp«rtance to astronomy 
fead justly drawn the attention of every civilized na- 
tion of the v^orld. Only tv/o transits of Venus over 
the sun had been observed prior to the 3d of June, 
1769, since the creation of the world; and of these 
4he first was seen but by two persons: yet the transits 
•©f Venus alone afforded the opportunity of settling the 
parallax of the sun, with sufficient certainty; and these 
happen so seldom, that there cannot be more than 
two in one century, and in some centuries none at alL 
]Mr. Rittenhouse completed his arrangements about 
the middle af April. The observatory was fixed 
near his mansion at Norriton, on an elevated piece of 
ground, having a grand horizontal view, and furnish- 
ed with suitabit instruments to assist in making ob- 
servation. 

The night before the long expected day, was pass- 
ed by Mr. Rittenhouse, in a solicitude that pre.cluded 
sleep. Great was his joy, when he beheld the morn- 
ing sun, and the whole Irorizon without a. cloud. la 
pensive silence and trembling anxiety, he waited for 
the predicted moment of observation. It came; and 
brought with it all that had been expected. In Mr. 
.Rittenhouse, it excited, in the instant ot one of the 
contacts of the planet with the sun, and emotion of de- 
light 63 exquisite and powerful that caused him to 
faint. This will -readily be believed by those who 
have known the extent of that pleasure which, attends 
the discovery or first perceptions of truth, 

Mr. Rittenhouse was associated with several gen- 
tlemen, appointed to observe the transit of Mercury 
over the sun on the 9th af Nove?=iiibtir, in the same 
year. This was likewise done at Norriton. An ac- 
count of this more common phenomenon, was drawn 
up, and published, by Dr. Smitj-u The report con- 
tains the following remarks: ^'The first time that 
c'¥er Mercary was observed on the sun's disk, was by 



Oasseadus, at Paris, on the 28th of 0<:tober, 1631, 
O. S. The transit of the 9th of November, 1769, 
was the fourth in that class? the two intermediate, 
fiach at forty-six years difference, having been ob-^ 
served by Dr. H alley, in 1677, and 1723." 

The result of his observations at Norriton, as well 
as those made under the auspices of the Ameiricaa 
Philosophical Society, at Philadelphia and Capa 
Henlopen, with those of the 9th of November, are de- 
tailed in the first volume of its transactions. In all 
•these events, Mr. Rittenhouse aeted a distinguished, 
part; the report of the proceedings bear ample testi- 
Riony to his transcendent astronomi<;al -abiTuies; it was 
received with great satisfaction by the astronomers ol* 
Europe, and, contributed much to raise the character 
©f our then infant country for astronomical knowl«' 
edge. 

Some time in 1767, Mr. Rittenhouse projected a 
planetarium, or orrery, which he completed in the 
sourse of a few years. This machine raised his repu- 
tation as a mechanic, mathematician^ and astronomer^ 
to the highest gradeo In the execution of it he was 
so copyist. Me fashioned it entirely after his own 
astronomical theory. Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes on 
Virginia, remarks, that this model ol the planetary- 
system has a plagiary appellation*" This is strictly 
true. The machine itself is as original as it is grand; 
b\ it he represented the revolutions of the heavenly 
bodies, in a manner more extensive and complete, 
th^r\ bad ever been done by any former astronomers^ 

Such were the amplitude of his mind, and the ex- 
tentof his ideas, that in his retired situationyand while 
employed in working at his tr^de, he resolved and 
aiatured the mighty plan, upon which this machine is 
constructed, before it was txecuttd, A correct des- 
cription of this orrery, drawn up by Dr. Sniith, is 
published in the first volume of the Transactions of 
the Philosophical Society. This beautiful and inter- 
esting piece of mechanism was disposed of to the col- 
lege of New Jersey* 



64; 



LIFE OF RITTENHOUSE. 



In the 5'ear 1770, he executed another, after the 
same model, for the college of Philadelphia, This 
was completed in less than ten months from its com- 
mencement. It now forms part of the philosophical 
apparatus of the University of Pennsylvania, where it 
has for many years commanded the admiration of the 
angeni.ous and learned, from every part of the world. 

This invention attracted very general utttntion 
among the learned and ingenious. The legislature of 
Pennsylvania bore honourable testimony to the merits 
of Mr. Rittenhouse. Under date of the 8'^ of March 
1771, on the journal o: the house, the following pro- 
ceedings are found: 

'*The members of assembly, having viewed the orC" 
ry constructed by Mr. David Rittenhouse, a native 
of thiis province, and being of opinion, that it greatl/ 
exceeds all others hitherto constructed, in demonstrat- 
ing the true situation of the celestial bodies, motions, 
distances, periods, eclipses, and order, upon the prin- 
ciples of the Newtonian system: 

*' Mesolvedy That the sum of three hundred pounds 
be given to Mr. Rittenhouse, as a testimony of the 
high sense which this house entertains of bib* mechan- 
ical abilities in constructing the said orrery." 

A certificate for the said sum, being drawn at the 
table, was signed by the speaker; and a committee was 
appointed to agree with, and purchase from, Mr, 
Rittenhouse, a new orrery, for the use of the public, 
at any sum not exceeding four hundred pounds, law- 
ful money of the province. 

In 1770, he removed with his family from Norn- 
ton, and fixed his residence in the city of Philadelphia,. 
Shortly afterwards, he had the misfortune to lose his 
wife. This afilicting providence, for some time, over- 
powered the philosepher with gloominess. Mrs.. 
Hittenhouse left him ia the charge of two young 
children. He vented his melancholy feelings, on this 
occasion, in the following pathetic words: — *'but noWj 
neither m.oney nor reputation has any charms.'* 



UFE OP RITTENHOUSE; 65 

The comet which appeared in July, 1770, engaged 
his attencion ibr several days. His observations on it, 
with the elements of its motion, and the tr^ijectory of 
its path, were commuicated to the American Philoso- 
phical Society; and where published in the first volume 
ot its transactions. It is worthy of remark^ that a 
comparison of his observations with those of M. Mes- 
seir, in France, and Mr. Six, in England, onihe same 
comet, confirmed his tlieory* 

In January, 1771, Mr. Rittenhouse was elected one 
of the secretaries of the American Philosophical 
Society. The distinguished services rendered by this 
society, to the cause of science, had now attracted the 
respectful notice of the legislature; and abaut this time 
a laudable interchange of civilities between them was 
commenced. In those days, the characters and at- 
tainments of the members (»f the society, and of the 
assembly, commanded mutual respect. 

From the year 1771, tht- affairs of the then colo- 
nies, were of a nature to exclude science from the at- 
tention of even the philosophic and learned. All meti 
beram.e engaged in politics. Legislation, and the mi- 
litary art, took possession of the taste of- the whole 
papulation. The interests of literature were neglected. 

Until the year 1775, Mr. Rittenhouse was very 
much in retirementi though he was not disengaged 
from anxiety for the public weal. He was too en^ 
lightened and patriotic not to be keenly sensible of the 
dclicfite as well as the alarming situation of his coun- 
try: but nature had fitted him more for the pursuits of 
science than the bustle of an official station. 

Before the commencement of the American revo- 
lutionary war, he was engaged jointly with a commis- 
sioner of New York, to ascertain iind define the boun- 
dary between Pennsylvania and New York. This 
was not completed till after the termination of the war* 

In the year 1775, he was elected to the Centinentai 
Co ngress, as a representative of Philadelphia; and took 
bis seat ia that body on the fifth of March, He waa> 



6^ LIFE OF RITTENHOUSE, 

justly considered a prudent and able member, though 
little accustomed to occupy the floor as a speaker. He 
did not possess that description of talents, which often 
enable one of moderate abilities to make a prominent 
figure in popular assemblies: but his perception was 
quick; in deliberative powers he excelled; and his 
calculating faculties were most accurate. Insuperable 
native diffidence, pursuits precluding opportunities of 
public speaking, and the peculiar structure of his mind, 
disqualified him as an orator. 

In the memorable year, 17T6f Mr. Rittenhouse was 
appointed a member of the board constituting the 
council of safety for the state of Pennsylvania. In the 
same year he was also a member of that convention in 
Philadelphia, which formed the first constitution for 
ahe state. On the meeting of the first legislature 
tinder the constitution in October, he was unanimous- 
ly appointed the state treasurer, whrch office he con» 
4inued to fill for twelve years, when he resigned. 

In consequence of a territorial <iispute between 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, he was appointed by the 
legislature of the former, in 1779, one of three com- 
Jnissioners to settle the controversy. After meeting 
with the commissioners on the part of Virginia, a 
convention was framed iiv which the line, to divide 
Ihe two states, was designated; and this convention 
was subsequently ratified by the proper authority, 
!Notwithstaading this adjustment, the controversy 
again arose, which was suspended during the war on 
the recommendation of Congress, whose principal ob- 
ject in the mediation, was to preserve peace and har- 
mony among all the states while the war for their 
common independence raged. In 1784, the boundary 
Was again ascertained by commissioners from both 
the siates^ Of those from Pennsylvania, Mr. Ritten- 
house was one; and to his talents, moderation, and 
lirmnesb, was ascribed, in a great degree, the satis- 
factory termination of thatooce alarming controvcr- 
sv. 



LIFE O? RITTENHOUSE. o7 

In 1780, Mr. Rutenhouse was elected by the gen- 
eral assembly of Pennsylvania a trustee to the loan 
olHce* This institution was originally founded for 
the purposes of augmenting the circulating medium^ 
and adi«inistered by the trustees according to author- 
ity from the legislature, for forty years, performed all 
the services of banking institutions, it was always- 
simple in its operations, and issued bills on land se- 
curity, with a given interest, to such persons as needed 
pecuniary assistance. After the adoption ot the con- 
stitution of the United States, this institution vyent 
down, and banks v/ere substituteds 

In 1782, Mr. Rittenhouse was elected a fellow of 
the Academy of Arts and Sciences^, of Boston. In 
1784, the college of William and Mary, in Virginia, 
complimented him with the honorary degree of M^as- 
ter of Arts. In the dij)ioma, which js special in its 
terms, he is styled by the rectors and faculty of the 
institution, *'the chief of philosophers." In the year 
1789, he received the degree of Doctor of Laws from 
the collage of New Jersey. In January, 1790^ he 
was.elected one of the vice presidents of the American 
Philosophical Society? and^ in 1791, he succeeded the 
venerable Franklin to the presidency of that institu- 
tion. In 1795, Dr. RiUenhouse was elected a fellow 
of the Royal Society of London. This society has 
dealt the honor of fellowship with a sparing hand, es- 
pecially to foreigners. Of Americans, Dr. Franklin, 
Dr. Johnson; Dr. ?>lorgan, and the late Mr. Bartram, 
were fellows before the revolutionary war; but since 
that event not more than two or three, of whom Dr. 
Rittenhouse was one, have been admitted to the honor 
of fellowship. 

It has been seen that Dr. Rittenhouse was frequent- 
ly employed in ascertaining the boundaries and ad- 
justing territorial differences between several of the 
colonies, now states. These engagements were all 
completed, or put in the way of being completed, iri 
such a manner as to excite. at once great respect for his 
talents and integrity. 






^B- L»S OP RnTENIlOU3E. 

The last occasion of this kind, on which he war 
empioyed, was on the appoinimtnt of Congress, in 
December, 1785, to run a line of jurisdiction betwern 
the states of Massachusetts and New York. This 
dutv he perioniied in 1787, and was executed with 
hie usual precision and inicgrity. It was his farewell 
peace offering lo the union and happiness of his coun- 
try. Some lime previously he was engaged with cer- 
tain Virginia commissioners in running the western 
boundary of Pcnnsylvani ». This service is merely 
introduced for the sake oi exmbiting a small specimen 
of the philosopher's conjugal correspondence. The 
following extract is of a letter to his svife, for he was 
again married, written in the wilderness: *T ever de- 
lighted in a wild uncultivated country. This is truly 
roiisaiuic at this season of the year, June 30th, 1735, 
beautiful and luxuriant in the highest degree. A few 
days ago, I walked up a little rivulet, in company with 
Mr. E. a considerable dibiaiiCe; to enjoy the romantic 
scene. It was bounded on eacb side by steep hills of 
an immense height; its bottom was finely paved with 
large flag stones, rising in steps, vAxh every here and 
there a beautiful cascade. The further we proceeded 
the more shady and cool we found it. At last ! pro- 
posed to Mr. E. that we should proceed no further, 
lest we should find some of the water goddesses, per- 
haps, stark naked and asleep. Mr., A. went with us 
for company sake; but neither the nymphs, nor their 
shady bowers, have any charms for him. Nothing; 
but vour presence was wanting to me to heighten the 
enchanting scene. 

*'Dfcer are incredibly plenty in those regions. I 
Was the first among us, who caught a young fawn, end 
hoped to have sent the beautiful little animal, a pre- 
sent, to H, We kept it about a week, and it became 
uite tame; but our cows ran away, and it starved for 
ant of milk. 

"I would write to B. and H., but you will not rea« 
dily imagine how liule leasure I have. Tired of :he 



LIFE OF RITTEf^IIOUSE, ^S 

exercises of the day, I rejoice at the approach of 
night; and, after a cup of tea, general!} liedovv-i to 
rest as soon as it is dark, unless we have obsciviivions 
to make; and then we have gtrnerally half a oj\\c to 
walk through dark woods, from the place of observa- 
tion to the encamipment. I'his, however, does not 
happen above once in a fortnight. 

"Sun hasten down the western skies, 

«'Go quick to bed, and quickly rise," 

Until you bring round the happy day, that will restore 

me again to my dear woman and children 1 so much 

!ove.'» 

The talents and knowledge of Dr. Rittenhouse were 
not limited to mathematical or material objects, his 
roind was a repository of the knowledge of all ages 
and countries;, he had early and deeply studied most 
of the different systems of theology. He was well- 
acquaintfd with practical metaphysics. In reading 
travels he took great delight. From them he drew 
a large fund of his knowledge of the natural history of. 
ihe globe. He possessed talents for music and poetry; 
hut the more serious and necessary pursuits of his life 
prevented his devoting much tame to the cultivaiiot^ 
of them. He read the English poets with great plea- 
sure. The muse of Thomson charmed him most* 
He admired his elegant combinations of philosophy 
and poetry. HoweVer opposed theseStudics may ap- 
pear, they alike derive their perfection from extensive 
and accurate observations ot the works of nature. He 
was intimately acquainted with the French, German 
and Dutch languages, the two former of which he ac-, 
quired without the assistance of a teacher. The serv- 
ed the valuable purpose of conveying to him the dis- 
coveries' of foreign nations, and thereby, enabled him 
to prosecute his studies with more advantage in his 
native language. 

The study of astronomy was the favorite pursuit of 
)r. Rittenhouse. Though not aided by the munifi- 
cence or princesj in the purchase of such iostrumecU) 



y^ fcJFE OF UITTENHOUSE. 

as were used by the celebrated Mayer and Hersche'lf, 
and, S>y the use of which alone they were enabled ia 
one sense to anticipate him, yet so extensively did he 
make himself acquainted with the heavenly bodies 
and the laws which govern their motions, that he pre- 
dicted almost every thing which has been discovered 
by them or any other astronomers. The discoveries 
of Dr. Herschel, among the fixed stars, in addition to 
those made by Mr. ivlayer, in a great degree only 
realized the expectations which were expressed many 
years before by Dr. Hittenhouse. Indeed his annuii- 
cLvtions were almost prtscient, respecting that portioa 
of the heavens, which should, at some time, be the 
scene of the most imnortant astronomical discoveries-. 

According to Dr» Herschel, the milky way is an 
immense nebula, near one of the sides of whach io 
placed the solar system; and he imagined, that each 
nebula, of which he hiid observed more than nine hun" 
dred, consists of a group of suns, with their attendant 
planets! Dr. Rittenhouse never had the advantage of 
using such stupendous and costly telescopes, as those 
used by his great rival Herschel to explore the heav" 
ens; but his vast intellectual perception seems to hav'C 
penetrated through space, and contemplated those 
sublime phenomena, which actually exist beyond the 
power of our vision. Dr. Herschel, with all his ad- 
vantt^ges, was enabled only to testify the anticipations 
of Rittenhouse. 

The American philosopher in language almost pro- 
phetic, and dictated by the most exalted perceptions of 
the grandeur of celestial objects, yet undiscovered, in 
his celebrated oration before the Philosophical Society, 
observed, that, *<all yonder stars innumerable, with 
their deper.d-ncies, may, perhaps, compose but the 
leaf of a flower in the Creator's garden, or a single 
pillar in the imrneose buildings of the divine architect," 
Those expectations which occupied the mind of Rit- 
tenhouse,. as early as the y^ar 1775, of the amazing, 
disGoy tries to be made ataong the fixed stars^ were 



L1F£ %V RITTENHOUSE. 71 

-Bot mere conjectures or vague hypotheses; but were 
rational anticipations ot realities founded on the most 
accurate observations, 'and n^ost laborious researches, 
as vvtU as the profoiindest philosophical judgif^mtnt. 
As Newton revealed thostr truths in phy;.ics, which 
his predecessor Bacon, preconceived; so that great 
praciical astronomer, Hersrhel, by means of the most 
improveci instruments, verifird the grand hypotheses 
in astrrnomy, which had i''iig beiore been xonceived 
by the towering genius ot Ri\ienbouse. 

In the latter years of his life, Dr. Kittenhou-se fiHed 
various public stations of a civil nature, in which he 
^bly discharged ihe duties required of him. He was 
the first director of the United States Mint, establish- 
ed under the ada^mistration of President Washington^ 
a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania; and a 
member of different incorporated associations to pro- 
noote internal improvements: In all of which, he was a 
good officer and an extensively useful citizen. 

In reply to the preposterous assertion of the Abbe 
Raynal, "that America had not produced one able 
mathematician, one man of genius in a single art or a 
single science," Mr. Jei^erson, late -president of the 
United States retorted the following emphaiical con- 
tradiction^ which presents Dr. Kittenhouse's preten- 
sions in an unequivocal and satisfactory view: *'In war 
we produced a Washington, whose memory will be 
adored, while liberty shall have votaries; whose name 
^ill triumph over time; and v/ill in future ages as- 
sume its first station among the most celebrated wor- 
thies of the world; when that wretched philosophy^ 
which would have arranged him among the degener- 
acies ot nature, shall be forgotten. In physics, we 
have produced a Franklin, than whom ro one of the 
present age has made mor<i important discoveries, nor 
has enriched philosojjhy more, and given more inge- 
iuous solutions of the phenomena of nature. We 
ii'ive supposed Rhtenhouse second to no astronomer 
Mving; that in genius he must be the first, because he 



7^ LIFE OP BITTENHOUSE. 

is self taught. As an artist, he has exhibited as greai 
proofs of mechanical genius as the world has ever pro- 
dused. He has not indeed made a world; but by 
imitation, he has approached nearer it&Maker than any 
other man who has lived from the creation to this, 
day." 

The citizens of the United States were not insensi- 
ble of the merits of Dr. Uittenhonse. Inventions and 
improvements in every art and science were frequent- 
ly submitted to his exnmination, and afterwards were 
patronized by the public, according as they were ap- 
proved of by him. Wherever he went, he met with 
public respect and private attentions. But his repu- 
tation was not confined to his native country. His 
name was known and admired in every region of the 
^arth, where science and genius are cultivated and 
respected. In the limited circles of private life he 
commanded esteem and affection. As a -neighbour 
be was liind and charitable. His sympathy extended 
in a certain degree to distress of every kind, but it was 
excited with the most force, and the kindest effects to 
the weakness, pain and poverty of old age. As a 
friend he was sincere, ardent and disinterested* As 
a companion, he instructed upon all subjects. Those 
who enjoyed his comp-.^ny,* might always learn some- 
thing from his conversation, which was indicative of 
bis mild disposition and the .greatness of his under- 
standing. * 

The source of his virtues, whether of a public or 
private nature, was his exalted conceptions of the 
DJty, logeiht r with his decided bt-lief of the immor- 
tality of tlic soul. Kis religion was not derived whol- 
ly from his knowledge and admiration of the material 
world — he bt'ieved :n the Christian revelation. Of 
this he gHve many proofs, Rot only in the conformity 
of his life to the precepts of the gospel, but in his letters 
3nd conversation. lii speaking of the truth and excel- 
lency of the Cliristinn religion, he mentioned, as an 
evidence of its divioe origin, that the miracles of our 



LIFE OP RITTE^^^OUSE. 



7S 



Saviour differed from all other mericles, In being en- 
tirely of a kind and benevolent nature. Dr. Rush, 
says, "It is no snnaU triumph to the friends of revela- 
tion to observe, in this age of infidelity, that our reli- 
gion has been admitted, and even defended, by men of 
the most exalted understanding, and of the strongest 
reasoning powers. The single testimony of Dr. Kit- 
tenhouse in its favor, outweighs the declamations of 
whole nations* against it«" 

As the natural effect of his belief in the relation o£ 
the whole human race to each other, in a commont 
Father and Redeemer, he embraced the vy hole family 
of mankind in the arms of his benevolence. But the 
philanthrophy of Dr. Rittcnhouse did not consist sim- 
ply in wishes for the happiness of mankind. ' Ke re- 
duced this divine principle to practice, by a series of 
faithful and disinterested services to that part of his. 
fellow creatures, to which the usefulness of good men 
is chiefly exerted. His country — his beloved coun- 
try, was the object of the strongest affections of his 
heart. For her he thought — for her he labored— and 
for her, in the hours of her dlfEculties and dangers, he 
wept in every stage of the revolutiono 

The year of the declaration of independence, which 
changed our royal governments into republics, pro- 
duced no change in his political tenets, for he had beeo, 
educated in the principles of republicanism by his 
father. 

Dr. Rittenfiouse resigned the directorship of the 
United States Mint, in June, 1792; after which he 
retired very much to the pursuits of science, and the 
tranquillity of domestic life. The scanty remnant of 
his days that yet remained, were spent in the dignity 
of 8: ^eat philosopher, and a good man. From the 
so^ieiy of his family arid friends, he derived much 
comfort in his intervals of respite from sickness and 
pafn.' He was fully sensible of the approaching crisis 
of the disease, which look him in his youth, and final- 
ly bore him to the grave; and he was quite prepared 



1?4j LIF£ 6F HENRY. 

to meet tlie awful summons, with the fortitude whick 
a retrospect of a well spent life was calculated to in- 
spire, and with the resignation, which an entire con- 
fidence in the goodness, wisdow, and mercy of God, 
taught him to be his duty. 

Dr. Rittenhouse was tall in stature; and in his per- 
son slender and straight. Although his constitution 
was delicate, his frame did not appear to have been 
•riginally weak. His gait was quick, and all his 
jnotions lively; his face was oval; complexion fair; 
and his hair brown. His features were ^ood. His 
forehead was high, capacious, and smooth; his eyes 
^ere inclined to grey, expressive of animation, reflec- 
tion, and good nature and well placed under full arch- 
ed brows. His nose was large, handsome, and in- 
clined to the aquiline. His mouth was well formed; 
and his chin broad and strong. In short, his whole 
countenance was indicative of intelligence, compla- 
cency, and goodness; displayed a mixture of con- 
templation, benignity, and innocence; and easily dis- 
tinguished the person of the philosopher, in the largest 
company. 



LIFE OF HENRY. 



Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia, and a 
wiost eloquent orator, took an early and decided part 
an support of the rights of his country, against the 
tyranny of Great Britain, It\ the year 1765 he was a 
member of the assembly of Virginia, and he intro- 
duced some resolutions, which breathed a spirit of 
liberty, and which were accepted by a snaall majority 
on the twenty ninth of May. These were the first 



LIFE OF HENKY. 75 

resolutions of any assembly occasioned by the stamp 
•act. One of the resolutions declared, that the general 
assewibly bad the exclusive right and power, to lay- 
taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of the 
colony. Such was the warmth, excited in the debate, 
that Mr. Henry, according to the relation of Mr. 
Stedman, after declaiming against the arbitrary n^ea- 
sures of Great Britain, added, "Caesar had his Bru- 
tus, Charles the first an Oliver Cromwell, and George 
the third^ ," when he was stopped from proceed- 
ing farther, and called to order. He was elected in 
1774 one of the deputies from Virginia to the first 
congress, and was in this year one of the committee, 
which drew up the petition to the king. In May 
1775, after lord Dunmore had conveyed on board a 
ship a part of the powder from the magazine of Wil- 
liamsburg, Mr. Henry distinguished himself by as- 
sembling the independent companies of Hanover and 
king William counties, and directing them towards 
Williamsburg with the avowed design of obtaining 
payment for the powder, or of compelling to its resti- 
tution. The object was effected, for the king*s recei- 
ver general gave a bill for the value of the property. 
The governor immediately fortified his palace, and 
issued a proclamation, charging those, who had pro- 
cured the bill, with rebellious practices. This only 
occasioned a number of county meetings, which ap- 
plauded the conduct of Mr. Henry, and expressed a 
determination to protect him. In August 1775, 
when a new choice of deputies to congress was made, 
be was not re-elected, for his Services were now de- 
manded more exclusively in liis own state. After 
the departure of lord Dunmore he was chosen the 
first governor in June, 177G, an-d he held this office 
several succeeding years, bending all his exertions to 
promote the freedom and independence of his coun- 
try. In the beginning of 1778 an anonymous letter 
was addressed to him with the design of alienating 
ab affections from the commander in chief. He en- 



.^ 



76 



LIFE OF HENRY. 



closed it to Washington both to evince his friendship 
:uid to put hini on his guardo In another letter, 
*vritten a few days afterwards, when he had heard of 
a plan to effect the removal of Washington, he says to 
him, '^while you face the armed enemies of our liber- 
ty in the field, and, by the favor of God, have been 
Icept unhurt, I trust your country will never harbor in 
her bosom the miscreant, who would ruin her best 
supporter; but when arts, unworthy honest men are 
suscd to defantK and traduce you, I think it not amiss,. 
but a duty to assure you of that estimation, in which 
the public hold you.*' 

In June 1778 he was a member, with other illus- 
trious citizens of Virginia, of the convention, which 
was appointed to consider the constitution of the Uni^ 
ted Statesj and he exerted all the force ot his master- 
ly eloquence, day after day, to prevent its adoption. 
He contended that changes were dangerous to Uber- 
xy'i thai itic olil Confederation had carried us through 
the war and secured our independence, and needed 
only amendment, that the proposed government was 
a consolidated government, in which the sovereignty 
of the states would be lost, and all pretensions to rights 
sand privileges would be rendered insecure: that the 
want of a bill of rights was an essential defect; that 
general warrants should have been -prohibited; and 
that to adopt the constitution with a view to subse- 
quent amendments was only submitting to tyranny in 
the hope of being liberated from it at some future 
time. He therefore offered a resolution, containing 
a bill of rights and amendments for the greater secu- 
rity of liberty and property to be referred to the other 
states before the ratification of the proposed form of 
government. His resolution however was not ac- 
cepted. The argument of Pendleton, Randolph, 
JVladison, and Marshall prevailed against the elo- 
quence of Henry, and the constitution was adopted, 
thoughrby a small majority. Mr. Henry's bilj oi 
rights and his amendments were then accepted, and 



LIFE OF HENRY. 77 

directed to be transmitted to the several states. 
Some of these amendm.ents have been ingrafted into 
the federal constitution, on v/hich account as well as 
on account of the lessons of experience, Mr. Henry in 
a few years lost in a degree his repugnance to it. • Af- 
ter the resignation of Mr. Randolph in August, 1795 
he was nominated by president Washington as secre- 
tary of state, but considerations of a private nature in- 
duced him to decline the honorable trust. In No- 
vember 1796 he was again elected governor of Vir- 
ginia, and this office also he almost immediately re- 
signed. In the beginning of the year 1789 he was 
appointed by president Adams as an envoy to France 
with Messrs. Ellsworth and Murray. His letter in 
reply t© the secretary of state is dated in Charlotte 
county April the sixteenth, and in it he speaks of a 
severe indisposition, to which he was then subject, 
and of his advanced age and increasing debility. 
Governor Davie of North Carolina, was in conse- 
quence appointed in his place. He lived but a short 
time after this testimony of the respect, in which his 
talents and patriotism were held, for he died at Red 
Hill in Charlotte county, June 6, 1799* 

Mr. Henry was a man of eminent talents, of ar- 
dent attachment to liberty, and of most commanding 
eloquence. The Virginians boast of him as an orator 
of nature. His general appearance and manners were 
those of a plain farmer. In this character he always 
entered on the exordium of an oration. His unassum- 
ing looks and expressions of humility induced his 
hearers to listen to him with the same easy openness, 
with which they would converse with an honest neigh- 
bor. After he had thus disarmed prejudice and 
pride, and opened a way to the heart, the inspiration 
of his eloquence, v/hen little expected, would invest 
him with the autliority oi n prophet. With a mind 
of great powers and a* heart of keen sensibility, he 
would sometimes rise in the majesty of his genius, 
and while he filled the audience >Yith adflairauois^y 
7^ ^' 



78 



I.IFE OP HJiNRY. 



would, with almost irresistable influence, bear along 
the passions of others with him. 

In private life he was as amiable and virtuous as 
lie was conspicuous in his public career. His princi- 
ples of liberty and regard to Christianity led him to 
deplore the practice of slavery. On this subject, in a 
letter written in 1773, he enquires, **is it not amazing 
that at a time, when the rights of humanity are defin- 
ed and understood with precision, in a country "above 
all others fond of liberty; that in such an age and such 
a country we find men, professing a religion, the most 
humane, mild, gentle, and generous, adopting a prin- 
ciple, as repugnant to humanity, as it is inconsistent 
ivith the bible, and destructive to liberty? Would 
any one believe, that I am master of slaves of my own 
purchased I am drawn along by the general incon- 
venience of being here without them. I will not — -I 
cannot justify it. I believe a time will come, when 
an opportunity will be ofTered to abolish this lamenta- 
ble evil. Every thingvve can do is to improve it, if 
5t happens in our day; if not, let us transmi*; to our 
descendants, together with our slaves, a pity for their 
unhappy lot, and an abhorrence of slavery." 

The following affectionate tribute to the memory of 
Henry, Which appeared in the Virginia papers imme- 
diately after his death, though not a specimen of per- 
fect taste, will yet further illustrate his character by 
showing the estimation, in which he was held by 
those, who knew him. "Mourn, Virginia, mourn; 
your Henry is gone. Ye friends to liberty in every 
clime, drop a tear. No more will his social feelings 
spread delight through his happy house. No nTore 
•will his edifying example dictate to his numerous off- 
spring the sweetness of virtue, and the majesty ol 
patriotism* Namore will his sage advice, guide by 
zeal for the common happiness, impart light and util- 
ity to his caressing neighbors. No more will he il- 
luminate the public councils with sentiments drawn 
frona |hs cabicct ^f bi§ Qwr; mndy eyer directed to 



LIFE OF HANCOCK, ?9 

feis country's good, ancj clothed in eloquence sublime, 
delightful, and commanding. Farewell, first rate pat- 
riot, f'arevvelh As long as our rivers fiow, or moun- 
tains stand, so long will your excellence and worth be 
the theme of our homage and endearment; and Vir- 
ginia, bearing in mind htr loss, will say to ribiig gen- 
triUions, imitate my Henry." 



LIFE OP HilNCOCK. 



John Hancock, Governor of Massachusetts, was 
the son of the Reverend John Hancock of Braintree, 
and was born about the year 1737. He was graduat- 
ed at Harvard eolltge in 1754. On the death of his 
uncle, Thomas Hancock, Esquire, he received a very 
considerable fortune, and soon became an eminent 
merchant. He was for several years, selectman of 
the town; and in 1766, he v;as chosen a member of 
the house of Representatives for Boston. He there 
blazed a whig of the first magnitude, Otis, Gushing, 
and Samuel Adams,, were the other three, who repre- 
sented the capital, men of name in the revolution of 
their country. Being fond of public notice, he was 
flattered by the approbation of the people, with their 
marks of confidence, and the distinction he had in the 
general court. — He often gave his opinion when ques- 
tions were before the house, and mingled in the de- 
bates, but possessed no great powers as a parliamen- 
tary speaker^ He never made a long speech, either 
in the style of declamatory eloquence, or the masterly 
reasoning of a great statesman. The political sagaci- 
ty of Adams, the public spirit and patriotic zeal of 
Hancock, gave a lustre to the Boston seat. Perhaps 
there never was a tiaie when the representativts of ths 



30 LITE OP HANCOCK. 

capital had such an influence in the affairs of the pro- 
vince. There was a colhsion of sentiment among the 
leading v.higs about the removal of the court to Bos- 
ton. Hutchinson offered this upon certain conditions 
which the majorit)' of members saw fit to comply 
with. Mr. Hancock voted with them. Adams was 
against the measure, and expressed his sentiments in 
opposition to his friend and colleague. Mr. Hancock 
was a man impatient of contradiction, and, upon some 
occasions, indulged a petulant humor. He could not 
bear the opposition of Mr. Adams on this question. 
It was one cause of the alienation between themo 
That gentleman was cool and determined, hard and 
unyielding, as well as bold m bis argument. He 
sometimes was sarcastic in his replies; but upon the 
subject which then divided the house, he observed 
the utmost delicacy, and seemed to dread the conse- 
quence of this political difference. These gentlemen 
had different views, though equally zealous in their 
opposition to the mother country. Or else one look- 
ed further than the other. Mr. Hancock was not 
a.qjainst a reconciliation, if Great Britain would repeal 
all her unjust acts, and paj due respect fo the rights 
of the colonies. Adams did not wish the ancient 
friendship should be renewed. From the lime of the 
3tan)p act, he sivw that hostilities would commence, 
r.nd the American colenies become a nation by thet\i- 
selves. He was desirous of being an actor in the most 
important scenes, and have his name handed down to 
posterity among the patriots, who vrere to forna a new 
icra in the revolution of empires. 

The division of these two leading characters made 
parties among the v;higs, especially in the town of 
Boston. Mr. Hancock was the idol of the people. 
His generosity upon all public occasions, and kind- 
ness to individuals, were the theme of continual and 
loud applause. It was said that his heart was open 
r.s the day to acts of beneficence: tha* he sunk his 
fortune in the cause of his country, This was the 



LIFE OF HANCOCK. 



Si 



prevailing idea, and it gave a perfume to the sacrifice. 
What bounds could be given to the people's affection 
to a man, who pre/crred '^their loving favor to great 
riches!" 

He v/as certainly the most popular man in the com- 
munity. ]Sor was his popularity a transient thing. 
At future periods of our revolution, when attempts 
were made to depreciate hinr); when other characters 
were brought forward whose mtrit was conspicuousj 
and even when he was accused, in the publications of 
the day, of wanting qualifications for adnfmistering 
the gDvernment, he still retained his influence in the 
communil}'. It is v;ell known, that some of our 
greatest and wisest and best men have ^solicited his 
concurrence in their measures, from the full persua- 
sion that the popular voice was so much in his favor» 

In the year 1774, Mr. Hancock was chosen to de- 
liver the public oration in Boston on the 5lh of IV^arch, 
•to commemorate the massacree of 1770. It is a very 
Bandoome composition, and' was very Well delivei'ecJ; 
During the course of this year his health declined. 
When the general assembly of the province elected 
n^.embers of the first congress, he was so ill, as to be 
unable to attend public business. The ensuing winter 
was favorable to his health; he recruited his spiiits 
and activity. He v*'as one cf the provincial congress, 
and, for a time, their president. He was then elec- 
ted a member of the general congress, that v»as to 
meet at Philadelphia ia 1775, This year was the 
most remarkable of any in the annals of the British 
nation. The revolutionary war commenced, April 
10. The battle of Lexington was succeeded by ^ 
proclamation from the governor declaring the coun- 
try in a slate of rebellion, and proscribing Hancock 
and Adams, as the chief leaders, whose behaviour 
was too flagitious to be forgiven. This only served to 
give importance to their eharaciers; to fix them in the 
esteem and affection of their country. There were 
men in these states who coveted such u niark of dis- 



8^ hWE OF HANCOCK. 

tinctlon; many, who would have given all their wealthy 
and run any risk of consequences. 

In 1776, July 4ih, his name appears as president of 
the congress which declared the colonies independent 
of the: crown of Great Britain* The name of the 
president alone was pu'lished with the declaration, 
though every member signed it. It was a mark of 
respect due to Massachusetts, to have one of their 
members in the chair, which had been filled with a 
member from South Carolina and Virginia. Mr. 
Hancock had those talents which were calculated to- 
make him appear to more advantage as chairman, 
than in the debates of a public body. He excelled as 
moderator of the Buston town meetings, as president 
of the provincial congress, and state convention; and, 
as head of the great council of our nation, he was 
much respected. He discovered a fine address, grea^ 
impartiality, sufficient spirit to command attention, 
and preserve ordsr. His voice and manner were 
much in his tavor, and his experience, in public bu- 
siness, gave him ease and dignity. 

In 1779, Mr. Hancock resigned his place in con- 
gress. He was chosen a member of the convention 
that formed the constitution of Massachusetts. Hci 
was not one of the committee to draw up the plan. 
Many were earnest to have him president; but the 
majority we?e for Mr. Bowdom. He attended his 
duty, however, very regularly, and sometimes ex- 
pressed his sentiments. He dissented from those, 
who would have given more power to the governor^ 
and more energy to the constitution. 

From 1780 to 1785> Mr. Hancock was annually 
chosen governor of the commonweahh of Massa- 
chusetts. He declined being a candidate for the office 
the ensuing year^and was succeeded, by the honora- 
ble James Bowdoin, esq. During the administration 
of Mr. Bowdoin, there was are insurrection in the 
state, which was happily quelled. Every thing wa& 
ione In the most judicious manner by the g;ove»:ntjr 



LIFE OF HAKC^CK, 63 

and the legislature, yet a part of the community ap- 
peared to be discontented with the administration, and, 
in the year 1787, Mr. Hancock was again placed ia 
the chair. 

His conduct in the state convention during the dis- 
cussion of it, gained him hpnor. The opposition to 
this excellent form of government was great. It 
was said that the majority of the convention would 
be against the adoption; and that the governor was 
with the opposers. He was chosen president of the con- 
vention, but did not attend the debates till the latter 
weeks of the session. Certain amendments were pro- 
posed to remove the objections of those, who thought 
some ot the articles deprived the people of their rights. 
He introduced these amendments with great proprie- 
ty, and voted for the adoption of the constitution. 
His name and influence doubtless turned many in fa- 
vor of the federal government. 

The latter years of his administration were easy to 
"him, on account of the public tranquility. The fed- 
eral government became the source of so much pros- 
perity, that the people were easy and happy. The 
two patriots, Hancock and Adams, were reconciled. 
When lieutenant governor Gushing died, general Lin- 
coln was chosen, as his successor. This gave great 
offence to Mr. Adams, and it was very disagreeable 
to the governor. They joined their strength to sup- 
port the same measures, as well as renewed their 
friendship. The next year, Lincoln was left out of 
office, and Mr. Adams chosen lieutenant governor. 
This gentleman succeeded Mr. Hancock, as governor 
of the commonwealth, lifter his death. 

The death of such a man was interesting to the peo- 
ple at laige. The procession at his funeral was very 
great. Dr. Thacher preached his funeral sermon the 
next sabbath. He was very friendly to the clergy of 
all denominations, and did a great deal to promote the 
cause of learning as well as religion. The library 
of Harvard College will give an exhibition of his 



8-^ LWE OF HANCOCK. 

munificence; for the name of Hancock, in goldert 
letters, now adorns one of the alcoves of the library 
room, and is upon the records of the university anriong; 
her greatest benefactors. He died October 8, 17f)S. 

Mr. Hancock was promoicd to every office which 
a man fond of public life couid expect or desire. His 
manners wore pleasing. He v/as polite, affable, easy 
condescending; and, what was greatly in his favor, 
did not appear lifted up with pride. Such an eleva- 
tion to prosperous cifcumstances would make some 
men giddy, and cause others to despise their neigh- 
bor, poorer than themst Ives. 

The editor will again rrfer to, and give an extract 
from the oration of Richard Rush^ esq. delivered at 
the city of Washington, July 4, 1812. He said, 
**During the siege of Boston, General Washington 
consulted Congress upon the propriety of bombarding 
the town. Mr. Hancock was then President of Con- 
gress. After General Washington's letter was read, 
a solemn silence ensued. This wa& broken by a mem- 
ber making a motion that the house should resolve it- 
self into a committee of the whole, in order that Mr» 
Hancock might give his opinion upon the important 
subject, as he was so deeply interested from having 
all his estate in Boston. After he left the chair, he 
addressed the chairman of the committee of the whole 
in the following words: '*Ii is true, sir, nearly all the 
property I have in the world, is in houses and other 
real estate in the town of Boston; but if the expulsion 
ef the British army from it, and the liberties of our 
country require their being burnt to ashes, issilC ihc 
orders for th at jturfosc imnc^uilelv:' 



LIFE OF WARREN. 



Joseph Warren, a major general in the Ameri" 
can army, was born in Roxbury in 1740, and was 
graduated at Harvard college in 1759. Directing his 
attention to medical studies, he in a few years became 
one of the most eminent physicians in Boston. But 
he lived at a period, when greater objects claimed his 
attention, than those, which related particularly to his 
profession. His country needed his efforts, and his 
zeal and courage would not permit him to shrink 
from any labors or dangers. His eloquence and his 
talents as a writer, were displayed on many occasions 
from the year in which the stamp act was passed to the 
commencement of the war. He was a bold politi- 
cian. While many were wavering v/ith regard to the 
measures which should be adopted, he contended that 
every kind of taxation, whether external or internal, 
was tyranny, and ought immediately to be resisted; 
and he believed that America was able to withstand 
any force that could be sent against her. From the 
year 1768, he was a principal member of a secret 
meeting or caucus in Boston, which had great influ- 
ence on the concerns of the country. With all his 
boldness, and decision, and Seal, he was circumspect 
and wise. In this assembly the plans of defence were 
matured. After the destruction of the tea, it was no 
longer kept a secret. He was twice chosen the public 
orator of the tov/n, on the anniversary of the massa- 
cre, and his orations breathe the energy of a great and 
daring mind. It was he, who on the evening before 
the battle of Lexington obtained information of the in- 
tended expedition against Concord, and at ten o'clock 
at night dispatched an express to Messrs. Hancock 
and Adams, who v/ere at Lexington, to warn them of 
their clanger. He himself on the next day, the me- 
morable nineteenth of April, was very active. It is 
said in g-^neral Heath's memoirs, that a ball took ofF 
8 



86 



LIFE OF WARREN. 



part of his earlock. In the confused state of the army, 
which soon assembled at Cambridge, he had vast in- 
ilaence in preserving order among the troops. After 
the departure cf Hancock to congress, he was chosen 
president of the provincial congress in his place. 
Four days previous to the battle ot Bunker's or 
Breed's hill, he received his commission ot major 
general. When the intrenchments were made upon 
the fatal spot, to encourage the men within the lines, 
he went down from Cambridge and joined them as a 
volunteer on the eventful day of the battle, June 17th. 
Just as the retreat commenced, a ball struck him on 
theheadv and he died in the trenches, aged thirty five 
years. He was the first victim of rank that fell in the 
struggle with Great Biitain. In the spring of 1776, 
his bones were taken up and entombed in Boston, on 
which occasion, as he had been grandmaster of the 
free masons in America, a brother mason and an elo- 
quent orator pronounced a funeral eulogy. 

The following account of the battle of Bunker's 
or Breed's Hill, we take from Ramsay's American 
He volution: 

*'A considerable height, by the name of Bunker's 
Hill, just at the entrance of the Peninsula of Charlts- 
town, v/as so situated as to make the possession of it a 
matter of great consequence, to either of the contend- 
ing parties. Orders were therefore issued by the pro- 
vincial commanders that a detachment of a thousiind 
men should intrench upon this height. By some mis- 
take Breed's Hill, high and large like the other, but 
situated nearer Boston, was marked o4it for the in- 
trenchments, instead of Bunker's hill. 'I he provin- 
cials proceeded to Breed's hill and worked with so 
much diligence that between midnight and the dawn 
of the morning, they had thrown up a snsall rtdooht 
about eight rods square. They kept such a profound 
silence, that they were not heard by '*hc British, on 
board their vessels, though very near. Thest- having 
derived their first information of what was going on 



I 



from the sight of the work near completion, began an 
incessant firing upon them. The provincials bore 
this with firmness, and though they were only young 
soldies, continued to labor till they had thrown up a 
small breastwork, extending from the east side of the 
redoubt to the bottom of the hill. As this eminence 
overlooked Boston general Gage thought it necessary 
to drive the provincials from it. About noon, there- 
fore, he detached major general Howe and brigadier 
general Pigot, with the flower of his army, consisting 
of four battalions, ten companies of the grenadiers and 
ten of light infantry, with a proportion of field artil- 
lery, to effect this business. These troops landed at 
Moreton's point, and formed after landing, but re- 
mained in that position till they were reinforced by a 
second detachment of light infantry and grenadier 
companies, a battalion of land forces and a battalion 
of marines, making in the whole nearly 3090 men. 
While the troops who first landed were waiting for 
this reinforcement, the provincials for their farther 
security, pulled up some adjoining post and rail fences, 
and stt them down in two parallel lines at a small dis- 
tance from each other, ^nd filled the space between 
with hay, which having been lately mowed, remained 
on the adjacent ground. 

*'The king's troops formed in two lines, and ad- 
vanced slowly, to give their artillery time to demolish 
the American works. While the British were ad- 
vancing to the attack, thev received orders to burn 
Charlestown. This was not done because they were 
fired upon from the houses in that town, but from the 
military policy of depriving enemies of a cover in 
their approaches. In a short time this ancient town, 
consisting of about 1500 buildings, chiefly of wood> 
was in one great blaze. 

"In Boston the heights of every kind were covered 
with the citizens, and such of the king's troops as were 
sot on duty. The hills around the adjacect country 



8S 



hWE OF WARRE>f. 



which afforded a safe and distinct view, were occu- 
pied by the inhabitants of the country. 

''Thousands, both within and without Boston, were 
anxious spectators of the bloody scene. The honor 
of British troops beat high in the breasts of many, 
•ivhile others with a keener sensibility, felt for ths 
liberties of a great and growing country. The Bri- 
tish moved on but slowly which gave the provincials 
a better opportunity for taking aim. The latter in 
general reserved thennselves till thejr adversaries were 
within ten or twelve rods, but then began a furious 
discharge of small arns. The stream of the Ameri- 
can fire was so incessan and did so great execution, 
ahat the king's troops retreated in disorder and pre- 
cipitation. Their officers rallied them and pushed 
them forward with their swords, but they returned ta 
the attack with great reluctance. The Americans 
again reserved their fire till their adversaries were 
near, and then put them a second tixiC to flight. 
General Howe and the officers redoubled their exer- 
tions, and were again successful, though the soldiers 
discovered a great aversion to going on. By this 
iime the powder of the Americans began so far to 
fail that they were not able to keep up the same brisk 
iire as before. The British also brought some cannon 
to bear which raked the inside of the breastwork from 
end to end. The fire from the ships, batteries and 
iicld artillery was redoubled; the soldiers in the rear 
were goaded on by their officers. The redoubt waD 
attacked on three sides at once. Under these circum- 
stances a retreat from it v/as ordered, but the provin- 
cials delayed, and made resistance with their dis- 
charged muskets as if they had been clubs, so long 
that the king's troops, who easily mounted the works, 
iiad half filled the redoubt before it was given up to 
them. 

"While these operations were going on at the breast 
work and redoubt, the British light infantry vi^ere at- 
tempting to force the left point of the former;^ that 



LIFE OF WARREN. 89 

they might take the American line in flank. Though 
they exhibited the most undaunted courage, they met 
with an opposition, which called for its greatest exer- 
tions. The provincials here, in like manner, reserved 
their fire till their adversaries were near, and then 
poured it upon the light infantry, with such an inces- 
sant stream, and in so true a direction as mowed down 
their ranks. The engagement was kept up on both 
sides with great resolution. 

"The number of Americans engaged, amounted' 
only to 1500. The loss of the British as ackowledgedl' 
by general Gage, amounted to one thousand and fifty- 
four. Nineteen commissioned officers were killed, 
and seventy more were wounded. The battle o^ 
Quebeck in 1759, which gave Great Britain the pro- 
vince of Canada, was not so destructive to British 
officers as this affair of a slight intrenchment, the worfc 
only of a few hours. 

The Americans lost five pieces of cannon;" Their 
killed amounted to one hundred and thirty-nine. Their 
wounded and missing to three hundred and fourteen. 
Thirty of the former fell into the hands of the 
conquerors. They particularly regretted the death of 
general Warren. To the purest patriotism and most 
undaunted bravery, he added the virtues of domestic 
life, the eloquence of an accomplished orator, and 
the wisdom of an able statesman." Dr. Warre» 
published an oration in 1772, and another m 1775^ 
commemorative of the fifth of March, 1770* 



&^'- 



LIFE OP WAYNE, 



Anthony Wayne, a major general in the Amer- 
icaa army, occupits a conspicuous station among the- 
heroes and patriots of the American revolution. He 
was born in the year 1^4S^ in Chester county, in the 
state, then colony of Pennsylvania. His father, who 
was a respectable farmer, was many years a represen- 
tative for the county of Chester in the general assem- 
bly, before the revolution. His grandfather, who was 
distinguished fop his attachment to the principle^ of 
liberty, bore a captain's commission under king i:!- 
liam at the battle of the Boyne. Anthony W^^ne 
succeeded his father as a representative for the county 
of Chester, in the year 1773.; and from his fir.st ap- 
pearance in public life, distinguished himself as a firsn 
and decided patriot. He opposed with much ability 
the unjust demands of the mother country, and in 
connexion with some gentlemen of distinguished tal- 
ents, was of material service in preparing the way for 
the firm and decisive part which Pennsylvania took in 
the general contest. 

In 1775 he was appointed to the command of a re- 
giment, which, his cha-racter enabled him to raise in a 
few weeks in his native countVo In the same year he 
was detached under gi",neral Thompson into Canada. 
In the defeat which followed, in which general 
Thompson was made a prisoner, colonel Wayne, 
though wounded, displayed great gallantry and good 
conduct in colleciiog and bringing oft, the scattered 
and broken bodies of troops. 

In the campaign of 1776 he served under general 
"Gates at Ticonderoga, and was highly esteemed by^ 
that officer for both his bravery and skill as an engi- 
neer. At the close of that campaign he was created 
a brigadier general. 

At the battle of Brandywine he behaved with his 
^5«al bfavervj aadfor ^iong time opposed the pro- 



LIFE OF WAYXE- 



M 



gres3 of ihe enermy at Chad's Ford. In this actioii 
the inferiority of ihc Americans la nuiiibers, discip- 
line, and arms, gave them little chance < l success; but 
the peculiar situation of the public nsind was supposed 
to require a battle to be risked; the ground wa; braver 
ly disputed, and the action was not considtrtd .is de-- 
cisive. The spirits of the troops were prc:s«^ vvt d by 
a belief that the loss of the enemy had tqual cd thevr 
own. As it was the intention of the American com- 
mander in chief to hazard another action on thi firs-t 
favorable opportunity that sould offer, general Wav ne 
was detached with his division, to harrass the enemy 
by every means in his power*^ The British troops 
were encamped at Tryduffin, and general Wayne was 
stationed about three miles in the rear of their left 
wing, near the Paoli tavern, and from the precautioi.rS 
be had taken, he considered himself secure; but about 
eleven o'clock,, on the night of the 17th Septenriber, 
major general Gray, having driven in his pickets, sud- 
denly 'attacked him with fixed bayonets. Wayne, 
unable to withstand the superior number of his as3.1l- 
ants, was obliged to retreat; imt forined again at a 
small distaDce, having lost about one hundred and 
ifty killed and wounded. As blame was attached.bj' 
some of the officers of the arm)-, to general Wa\ne, 
for allowing himself to be surprised in this manner, he 
demanded a court martial, which, after examining the 
necessary evidence declared that he had dore tvery 
thing to be expected from an active, brave, and vigj^ 
lant officer; and acquitted him with honor. 

Shortly after was fought the battle of Germi^ntown, 
in which he greatly signalized himself by his spirited 
manner of leading his men into action. 

In all councils of war, general Wayne was distin* 
guishrd for supporting the most energetic and drcis- 
bive measures. In the one previous to t e baale cf 
iS^onmouth, he and general Gadwallader w* re tht on^ 
!y ofRccrs decidedly in favor of attacking the British 
%Tmy, The American ofEcers are said to have been 



t^ LIFE OF WAYNE. 

influenced by the opinions of the Europeans. The 
Baron de Steuben^ and generals Lee and Da Portail, 
whose military skill was in high estimation, had warm- 
ly opposed an engagement, as too hazardous. But 
general Washington, whose opinion was in favor of an 
engagement, made such disposition as would be most 
likely to lead to it. In that action, so honorable to the 
American arms, general Wayne was conspicuous in 
the ardor of his attack. General Washington, in his 
letter to congress, observes, "Were I to conclude my 
account of this day*s transactions without expressing 
my obligations to the officers of the army in general, I 
should do injustice to their merit, and violence to my 
own fcelingafev They seemed to vie with each other in 
manifestingliheir zeal and bravery. The catalogue 
ofthoee who distinguished themselves is too long to 
admit of particulari-^ing individuals. I cannot^ how- 
ever, forbear mentioning brigadier general Wayne, 
wh.jse good conduct and bravery, throughout the 
whole action deserves particular commendation.'" 

In July 1719, the American commander in chief 
"iiaving conceived a design of attacking the strong post 
of Slony Point, committed the charge of this enter- 
prise to general Wayn e The garrison was composed 
of six hundred men, principally highlandcrs, com- 
manded by lieutenant colonel Johnson. Stony 
Point is a considerable height, the base of which, oa 
the one side, is washed by the Hudson river, and on 
the other is covered by a morass, over which there is 
but one crossing place. On the top of this hill was 
the fort; formidable batteries of heavy artillery wers 
planted on it, in front of which, breast-works were ad- 
vanced, and half way down, was a double row of 
abattis. The batteries commanded the beach and the" 
crossing place of the morass. Several vessels of war 
were also in the river, whose guns commanded the 
foot of the hill. At noon, on the 15th of July, gene» 
ral Wa>ne marched from Sandy Beach and arrived a^ 
eight o'clock in the evening within a raile and a half 



LIFE OF WAYME. ®^ 

of the fort, where he made the necessary disposition 
for the assault. After reconnoilering the situation of 
the enemy, at half past eleven he led his troops with 
Tinloaded muskets and fixed bayonets, and without fir- 
ing a single gun, completely carried the fort and made 
the garrison, amounting to five hundred and forty- 
three (the rest being killed; prisoners* In the attack, 
while at the head of Febiger's regimtnt, general 
Wayne received a wound in the head wiih a musket- 
ball, which, in the heat of the conflict, supposing mor- 
tal, and anxious to expire in the lap uf glory, he called 
to his aids to carry him forwar<|^and let die in the fort;. 
The resistance on the part of the garrison was very 
spirited. Out of the forlorn hope of twenty men, 
commanded by lieutenant Gibbun, whose business it 
was to remove the abattis, seventeen were killed. 
For the brave, prudent and solderlike conduct dis- 
played m this achievement, the Congress presented to 
general Wayne a gold medal emblematic of the action. 
In the campaign of 1781, in which lord Cornwallis, 
and a British arn)y were obliged to s'jrrender prison- 
ers of war, he bore a conspicuous part. His presence 
of mind never failed him in the most cvitical situa- 
tions. Of this he gave an eminent example on the 
James River* Having been deceived by some false 
information, into a belief that the British army had 
passed the river, leaving but the rear guard behind, 
he hastened to attack the latter before it should also 
have effected its passage; but on pushing through a 
morass and wood, instead of the rear guard, he found 
the whole British army drawn up close to him. His 
siuiation did not admit of a moment's deliberation. 
Conceiving the boldest to be the safest measure, he 
immediately led his smnll detachment, not exceeding 
eight hundred men, to the charge, and after a short, 
but very smart and close firing, in which he lost one 
hundred and eighteen of his men, he succeeded in 
bringing off the rest under cover of the wood. Lord 
C.crnwaliis. susnectjocv the attack to bs a ftintj in ox- 



^"^ LIFE OF WAYNE. 

der to draw him into an ambuscade, would not p£i"« 
niit his troops to pursue. 

^ The enemy having made a considerable head in 
Georgia, Wayne was despatched by general Wash- 
ington to take the command of the forces in that state, 
and ahersome sanguinary engagements, succeeded in 
establishing security and order. For his services in 
that st.^te the legislature presented him with a valua- 
ble farm. 

On the' peace which followed shortly after, he re* 
tired to private lift; but in 1789 we find him a mem- 
ber of the Pennsyivd^a convention, and one of those 
in favor of "the present federal constitution of the Uni- 
ted States. 

Ill iheye:?5r 1792 he was appointed to succeed gen- 
eral St. Clair, who had resigned the command of the 
army engaged against the Itidians on our western 
frontier. He had to oppose an enemy of unceasing 
activity, abounding in stratageRis, and flushed with re- 
cent victory. His troops vvere composed of new 
levies, who with diSculty could be brought to submit 
to the strictness of discipline, necessary to be preserved 
in order to counteract the arts of their wily foe. The 
service was considered as extremely dangerous, and 
the recruiting proceeded very slowly. Two gallant 
armies had been cut to pieces by these savages, who 
had destroyed with fire and the tomahawk, the ad- 
vanced settlements of the whites. On his appoint- 
ment it was supposed by manv, that the military ardor, 
for which he had ever been eaiincntK distinguished, 
would be very likely to lead him in action under unfa- 
vorable circuaistances, when opposed by a foe, whose 
vigilance was unceasing, and whose rule it was, never 
to risk an action, without the greatest assuiance of 
success. But the appointment had b-en made by the 
man, who of all otht-rs was the best judge of the re- 
quisite qualities of a commander. Gi-neral Wayne 
had been selected for this important situation b) presi- 
alent Washington, who entertained a distinguished 



LIFE OF WAYNE* 



9^ 



regard for birr,; and the result showed hisoppinion as 
acciiraie in this, as in all other iniitances of his glori- 
ous life. \Va)nc lornRed an encampment at Pitts- 
burgh and such rxemplary discipline was introduced 
amoi'g the new troops, that on their advance int6 the 
Indian country, they appeared like veterans. He 
wished to cottie to a general engagement with the ene* 
my, but aware of the serious consequences that would 
foil )\v .1 defeat, the movennents ot the army were con- 
ducted with consumatc prudence. Parties were con- 
stLintly in advance, and as well to guard against a sur- 
prize, which had been fatal to the officers which pre- 
ceded him, as to inure histrod|% to vigilance and toil, 
ihe station of ever\ night was fortified. Provisions 
were difficult to procure, and a rapid advance into the 
enemy's country, must have been followed by as rapid 
a retreat. He, properly, conqeived that the security 
of the country and the favorable termination of the 
war, depended more on maintaining the ground, in a 
slow advance, than by making a rapid incursion into 
their villages, y,hich he might be obliged instantly to 
abandon. At this time, the Six Nations had shown 
a disposition to hostilities, which the care of the Presi- 
dent was scarcely able to prevent. And on the south, 
it was with difficulty that the government of Georgia 
restrained the turbulence of its savage neighbors. 
In this situation, a retreat of the American troops, 
would probably have been attended with the most 
fatal consequences to the countrv. 

The Indians had collected in great numbers, and it 
was necessary not only to rout them, but to occupy 
their country by a chain of posts, that should, for the 
future, check their predatory incursions. Pursuing 
this regular and systematic mode of advance, the au- 
tumn of 1793 found gt-neral Wayne with his armv at 
a post in the wilderness, call^^d Greensville, about six 
miles in advance of fort Jefferson, where he determm- 
ed to encamp for the winter, in order to m^ke ihe 
«ecessary arrangements for opening the campaign to 



96 IWE OP WAYNE. 

effect early in the following spring. After fortifying 
his camp, he took posst- ssinn of the ground on which 
the Americans had been defeated in 1?91, which he 
fortified also, and called the work iort Recovery. 
This sita-ition of the army, menacing the Indian vil- 
lages, effectaally prevented any attack on the white 
settlements. The impossibility of procuring the ne- 
cessary supplies prevented the march of the troops till 
the summer. On the eighth of August the army ar- 
rived at the junction of the rivers An Glaize and Mi- 
ami of the Lakes, where the^^ erected works for the 
protection of the stores. About thirty miles from this 
place, the British had fS^rmed a post, in the vicinity of 
which the Indians had assembled their whole force. 
On the 15th the army again advanced down the Mi- 
ami, and on the 18th arrived at the Hapids. On the 
following day they erected some works, for the pro- 
tection of the bi»ggage. The situation of the enemy 
was reconnoitered, and they were found posted in a 
thick wood, in the rear of the British fort. On the 
twentieth the army advanced to the attack. The 
Miami covered the right flank, and on the left were the 
mounted volunteers, commanded by general Todd* 
After marching about five miles, major Price, v/ho 
I'd the advance, received so heavy a fire from the In- 
dians, who were stationed behind trees, that he was 
compelled to fall back. The enemy had occupied a 
wood in front of the British fort, which, from the 
quantity of fallen timber, could not be entered by the 
horse. The legion was immediately ordered to ad- 
vance with trailed arms, and rouse them from their 
covert; the cavalry under captain CanipbeH, were di- 
rected to pass between the Indians and the river, 
while the volunteers, led by generial Scott, made a 
circuit to turn their flank. So rapid, however, was 
the charge of the legion, that before the rest of the 
army could get into action, the enemy were complete- 
ly routed, and driven through the woods for more 
than two milesj and the troops halted within gun-shot 



LSH5 0? WAYN'E, 97 

of the British fort. All the Indians* houses and corn- 
fields were destroyed. In this decisive action, the 
whole loss of general Wayne's army, in killed and 
wounded, amounted only to one hundred and seven 
men. As hostilities continued on the part of the In- 
dians, thtir whole country was laid waste and forts 
established, which effectually prevented their return. 

The success of this engagement destroyed the ene- 
mies' power; and in the following year general Wayne 
concluded a definitive treaty of peace with them. 

A life of peril and glory was terminated in Decem- 
ber, 1796. He had shielded his country from the 
murderous tomahawk of the savage. He had estab- 
lished her boundaries. He had forced her enemies to 
sue for her protection. He beheld her triumphant, 
rich in arts, and potent in arms. What more could 
his patriotic spirit wish to see? .He died in a hut at 
Presque Isle aged about fifty one years, and was buri- 
ed on the shore of Lake Erie. 

A few years since his bones were taken up by bis 
son, Isaac Wayne, Esq. and entombed in his native 
county; and by direction of the Pennsylvania State 
Society of the Cincinnati, an elegant monument of 
white marble, with suitable inscriptions thereon, has 
been erected to his memory. 
9) 



LIFE OF MORGAN. 



BanieL Morgan, brigadier general, of the Vir« 
ginia line on continental establishment, deservecHy 
Tanked among the best and most efficient soldiers of the 
United States, wa^i born in New Jersey; from whence 
he emigrated to Virginia in 1755. Like many of the 
greatest men of every country, his native condition 
was indigent, so much as to render it necessary for 
young Morgan to enter into service as a laborer, for 
daily wages. 

Soon after his arrival in Virginia he obtained em- 
ployment from farmer Roberts, near Charleston, in the 
county of Jefferson, (then Berkley.) Afterwards he 
was engaged to drive a wagon for John Ashley, over- 
seer for Nathaniel Burrel, Esq, at his estate on the 
Shenandoah river, in Frederic county, near Berry's 
ferry. When he left Ashley, ^lorgan had, by his care 
and industry, amassed enough cash to purchase a 
wagon and team; which he did, and soon afterwards 
entered with it into the employment of Mr. John Bal- 
lantine, at his establishment on Occuquan creek. At 
the expiration of this year Braddock's expedition was 
spoken of as an event certainly to take place in the 
course of the ensuing summer. Morgan reserved 
himself, wagon, &c. for this expedition; when he join- 
ed the army, but in what character is not known. 

He received, during his military service, a severe 
wound in the face; the scar of which was through life 
very visible. We do not understand in what affair 
this happened; but it was from a rifle or musket, aim- 
ed, as-he said himself^ by an Indian. The bullet en- 
tered the back of his neck, and passed through his left 
cheek, knocked out all his hind teeth on that side. 

In the course of the. campaign he was unjustly pun- 
ished, by being brought to the halbert, undt r a'eharge 
of contumely to a British officer, where he received 
five hundred lashes. The officer being afterwards 



iJFE OF MORGAN. 



9% 



eonvinced of his cruel error, made every amend in his 
power to the maltreated Morgan; who, satisfied with 
«he contrition evinced by the officer, magnanimously 
forgave him. Nor did the recollection oi'this person- 
al outrage operate in the least to the prejudice of the 
British officers in the late war. Many of them, as is 
well known, fell into the hands of Morgan, and inva- 
riably received from him compassionate and kind 
treatment. 

The general would often, among his intimate 
friends, recur to this circumstance; the narrative 
whereof he generally concluded, by saying, in a jocu- 
lar way, that *'King George was indebted to him one 
lash vet; tor the drummer miscounted one, and he 
knew well when he did it; so that he only received 
four hundred and ninety nine, when he promised hitti 
five hundred." 

In this period of life from twenty to thirty years of 
age, Morgan was extremely dissipated; and spent 
much of his time in vulgar tippling and gambling 
houses. However, although habituated to the free 
use of ardent spirits, he was never considered as u 
drunkard: and though enamored with cards and dice, 
he was a cautious player, increasing rather than di- 
minishing his cash fund. This course of life subject- 
ed hirn to many affravs and furious pugilistic combats 
in which he never failed to take a leading part. The 
theatre of these exploits was Berrjstown, a small vil- 
lage in the county of Frederic, commonly called Bat- 
tleiown; named, as is generally supposed, from the 
fierce combats fought on its soil under the banners of 
Morgan. 

Whatever may have been the cause, it is certain 
that he spent mu^.h of his leisure at this place; that he 
fought there many severe combats^ and that though 
often vanquished he never was known to omit seizing 
the first opportunity which nresented, after return of 
strength, of taking another bout with his conqueror*. 



i60 LIFE OF MORGAXo 

and this he repeated from time to time, until at length 
victory declared in his favor. 

Such was the innate invincibility of young ?vIorgan 
-—which never forsook him, when, by the strength of 
liis unimproved genius, and the propitiousness of for- 
tune, he mounted on an extended theatre of action; as 
jeplete with difficulty as to him with glory. When 
lie returned from Braddock's expedition he reassumed 
iiis former employment, and drove his own wagoa. 
Jn a few years his previous savings, added to the Ut- 
ile he earned in the campaign, enabled him to purchase 
a small tract of land from a Mr. Blackburn, in the 
county of Frederic; on w'* ch, during our war, he 
erected a handsome mansion house, with suitable ac- 
jcompanying improvements, and called it Saratoga, ia 
commemoration of the signal victory obtained by gen- 
eral Gates, to which he had himself principally con- 
tributed. On this farm Morgan, having married 
shortly after his return from his military tour, resided 
when the revolutionary war broke out. 

The smattering of experience gained during Brad- 
dock's expediiion, pointed him out to the leading men 
of Frederic, as qualified to command the first compa- 
ny of riflemen, raised in that county in defence of our 
country. He speedily completed his company, as all 
the finest youth of Frederic flocked to him; among 
ivhom was lieutenant, afterwards colonel Heth, and 
STiany others, who in the course of the war became ap- 
proved officers. With this company Morgan hasten- 
ed to the American army encamped before Boston, in 
17/4, and soon afterwards was detached by the com- 
mander in chief under Arnold, in his memorable ex- 
pedition against Quebec. 

The bold and disastrous assault, planned and exe- 
cuted by the celebrated Montgomery against that city 
gave opportunity for the display of heroism to individ- 
uals, and furnished cause of deep regret to the nation 
by the loss of the much beloved Montgomery. No 
officer more distinguished himself than did captaia 



LIFE OF MORGAlSr. 



101 



Morgan. Arnold commanded the column to which 
Morgan was attached, who became disabled by a ball 
through his leg early in the action, and was carried 
off to a place of safety. 

Our troops having lost their leader, each corps 
pressed forward as the example of its ©fficer invited, 
Morgan took the lead, and preceded by sergeant, af- 
terwards lieutenant colonel, Porterfield, who unfortu- 
nately fell at the battle of Cambden, when his life 
xr/ight have saved an army, mounted the first barrier^ 
and rushing forward, passed the second barrier, lieu- 
tenant Heth and serge?nt Porterfield only before hifti. 
In this point of the assault a group of noble spirits 
united in surmounting the obstacles opposed to our 
progress; among them was Greene and Tliayer of 
Rnode Island, Hendricks of Pennsylvania, and Hum- 
phreys of Virginia; the two last of whom were killed. 

Vain was this blaze of glory. Montgomery's fall 
stopped the further advance of the principal colur^a 
of attack; and the severity of the raging storm, the 
obstacles of a^ture and of art in our way, and the 
combined attack ot the enemy's force, no longer divi- 
ded by attention to tiie column of Montgomery, over- 
powered all resistance. Morgan (with most of the 
corps oi Arnold) was taken; and as heretofore men- 
tioned, experienced a different treatment from sir 
Guy Carlfton than was at that period custom.ary for 
British offio-ers to dispense to American prisoners* 
The kindness of Carleton, from' motives of policy, ap- 
plied more forcibly to the privates than to our officers 
and produced a durable impression,. 

While Morgan was in confinement at Quebec the 
following, anecdote,. told by himself, manifests thehigb 
opinion entertained by the enemy of his military tal- 
ents from his conduct in this assault. He was visited- 
occasionally by a British officer, to him unknown; bufe 
from his uniform, he appeared to belong to the navy^H 
and to be an officer of distinction^ During one of his- 
visits, after conversing upon many topics,, f*be aske^ 



4 OB 



LIFE OF MORGAN, 



Morgan if he did not begin to be convinced tiiat the 
resistance of America was visionary? and he cndca- 
vored to impress him with ihe disastrous consequen- 
ces which must infallibly ensue, if the idle attempt was 
persevered in, and very kindly exhorted him to re- 
nounce the ill advised undertaking. 'He declared, 
with seeming sincerity and candor, his admiration of 
JMorgan's spirit and enterprise, which he said was 
worthy of a better cause; and told him, if he would 
agree to withdraw from the American and join the 
British standard, he was authorized to promise him 
the commission, rank and emoluments of a colonel in 
the royal army." Morgan rejected the proposal with 
disdain; and concluded his reply by observing, *'That 
he hoped he would never again insult him in his dis- 
tressed and unfortunate situation by. making him offers 
which plainly implied that he thought him a rascal.'' 
The officer withdrew, and the offer was never repeated. 

As soon as our prisoners were exchanged, Morgan 
hastened to the army; and by the recommendations ei 
general Washington, was appointed to the command of 
a regiment. In this station he acted under the com- 
mander in chief in 1777, when a select rifle corps was 
formed out of the others in the army and committed 
to his direction, seconded by lieutenant colonel Rich- 
ard Butler of Pennsylvania, and major Blorris of 
!New Jersey, two officers of high talents, and speci- 
ally c^Lialified for the enterprising service to which 
they were assigned. Morgan and his riSemen were 
singularly useful toWashington; but our loss at Ticon- 
deroga, and the impetuous advance of Burgoyne, pro- 
claimed so loudly the gloomy condition of our affairs 
in the north, that the general who thought only of the 
public good, deprived himself of Morgan and sen£ 
him to Gates, where he was persuaded his services 
were most required. 

The splendid part he acted on that occasion, and 
^-low much his exertions contributed to the glorious 
iriuroDh aehieved afterwards, are cifcumstances gen- 



LIFE OF MORGAN, i03 

crally known, notwithstandhig his name is not men- 
tion by general Gates in his dispatchers. 

Alter the return of Morgan to the main army he 
continued actively employed by the commander in 
chief, and never failed to promote the good oi the 
service by his sagacity, his vigilance, and his perse- 
verance. In 1780 his health became much impaired, 
and he obtained leave of absence, when he returned to 
his family in Frederic, where he continued until after 
the fall of Charleston. 

When general Gates was called to the chief com- 
mand in the south, he visited Morgan, and urged the 
colonel to accompany him. Morgan did not conceal 
his dissatisfaction at the treatment he had heretofore 
received, and proudly spoke of th^ important aid he 
had rendered to him, and the ungrateful return he had 
fxperienced. Being some few weeks afterwards pro- 
moted by congress to the rank of brigadier general by 
brevet, with a view of detaching him to the south, he 
repaired to the army of Gates, but did not reach Caro- 
lina in time to take a part in the battle of Cambden^ 
He joined Gates at Hillsborough^ and was senf under 
Smallwood to Salisbury with all the' force fitted for 
service. Gates, as soon as he had prepared the resi- 
due of his army, followed, and gave to Morgan, in his 
arrangements for the field, the command of the light 
troops, - .. 

Greene now arrived as the successor of Gates, 
^vhich was followed by that distribution of his force 
which led to the battle of the Cowpens; the influence 
of which was felt in every subsequent step of the war 
in the Carolinas. 

Tjne following account of the batde of the Cow- 
pens we copy from **Lee's Memoirs;'' 

'^Lieutenant colonel Tarleton was detached by lord 
Cornwallisin pursuit of Morgan, and he lost no time 
in approaching his enemy, Morgan was duly ap- 
prized of his advance. Tarleton passed through the 
ground on which Morgan had been encamped, a kw 



i 04 LIFE OP MQEGAN- 

hours after the latter had abandoned it; and, leavuig 
his baggage under a guard with orders to follow with 
convenient expedition, he pressed forward throughout 
the night in pursuit of the retiring foe. After a se- 
vere march through a rugged countty, he came in 
sight of his enemy about eight o'clock in the morning 
(January \7, 1781j) and havmg taken two of our 
videts, he learned that Morgan had halted at the Cow- 
pens, not far in front, and some distance from the 
Broad river. Presuming that Morgan would not 
risk action unless driven to it» Tarleton determined^ 
fatigued as his troops were, instantly to advance on 
his enemy, lest he might throw his corps safe over • 
the Broad river. 

"Morgan having been accustomed to fight and to 
conquer, did not relish the eager and inierruptmg 
pursuit of his adversary; and sat down at the Cowpenes 
to give rest and refrejit^iment to his harrassed troops, 
with a resGiuiion no ioiiger to avoid action, should 
his enemy persist in presiji; g it. Being apprised at 
the dawn of day of Tarleton's advMoce, he instantly 
prepared for battle. Tliis decision grew out of irrita- 
tion of temper, which appears to hav^e overruled the 
suggestions of his sound and discriminating judge- 
ment. The ground about the Cowpens is covered 
with open wood, admitting the operation of cavalry 
with facility, in which the enemy trebled Morgan. 
His flanks had no resting, bnt were expo sed to be 
readily turned; and the Broad river ran parallel to his 
rear, forbidding the hope of a s«fe retreat in the event 
of a disaster. Had Morgan crossed this river, and* 
approached the mountain, he would' have gained a 
position disadvantageous to cavalry, but convenient 
for riflemen; and would have secured a U-ss dangerous 
retreat but these cogent reasons, rendered more for- 
cible by his inferiority in numbers, could not prevail 
Confiding in his long tried fortune, conscious of his 
personal superiority in soldiership, and relying on the. 
kill and courage of bis troops, he adhered to his re so* 



LIFE OF MORGAN. 



105 



lution. Erroneous as was the decisioo to fight in 
this position, when a better might have been easily 
gained, the disposition for battle was masterly. 

*'Two light parties of militia, under major M'Do- 
well of North Carolina, and major Cunningham, of 
Georgia, were advanced in front, with orders to* feel 
the enemy as he approached; and, preserving a desul- 
tory and well aimed fire as they tell back to the front 
line, to range with it and renew nhe conflict. The 
mam body of the militia composed this line, with 
general Pickens at its head. At a suitable distance 
in the rear of the first line a second was stationed, 
composed of the continental infantry and two compa- 
nies of Virginia militia, under captains Triplett and 
Taite, commanded by lieutenant colcnel Howard. 
Washington's cavalry, reinforced with a company of 
mounted militia armed uith sabres, was held in re- 
serve; convenient to support the infantry, and protect 
the horses of the rifle militia, which were tied agreea- 
bly to usage in the rear. On the verge of battle, 
Morgan availed himself of the short and awful in- 
terim. to exhort his troops. First addrtssing himself, 
with his characteristic pith, to the line of militia, he 
extolled the zeal and bravery so often displayed by 
them, vvhtn unsupported wi^h the bayonet or sword; 
and declared his cc nfidence that they could not fail 
in maintaining their reputation, whtn supported by 
chosen bodies of horse and foot, and conducted by 
himself. Nor did he forget to glance at his unvary- 
ing fortune, and superior experience; or to mention 
who often with his corpse of riflemen, he had brought 
British troops, equal to those before him, to submis- 
sion; He described the deep regret he had already 
experienced in being obliged, from prudential con- 
siderations, to retire before an enemy always in his 
power; exhorted the line to be firm and steady; to fire 
with good aim; and if they would pour in but two 
voilevs at killing distance, he would take upon him- 
self to securt victory. To the continentals, he was 



106 



LWE OF MORGAN. 



very brief. He reminded them of the confidence he 
had alvva)'s reposed in their skill and courage; assur- 
ed them that victory was certain if they acted well 
their part; and desired them not to be discouraged by 
the sudden retreat of the militia, -that being part of .; 
his plan and orders. Then taking post with this line, " 
he waited in stern silence for the enemy. 

*'The British lieutenant colonel, urging forward, 
was at length gratified with the certainty of battle; 
and, being prone to presume on victory, he hurried 
the formation of his troops. The light and legion ^ 
infantry, with the seventh regiment, composed the 
line of battle; in the centre of which was posted the 
artillery, consisting of two grasshoppers; and a troop , 
of dragoons was placed on each flunk. The battalioo 
of the seventy first-regiment, under major M'Arthur, 
with the remainder of the cavalry, formed the reserve. 
Tarleton placed himself with jhe line, having under' 
him major Newmarsh, who cnmrnanded the seventh 
regiment, 'i he disposition was not com pitted when 
he directed the line to advance, and the reserve to wait 
further orders. The American light parties quickly 
yielded, fell br.ck and arrayed w/ih Pickens. The 
enemy, shouting, rushed forward upon the front line, 
which retained its station, and poured in a close fire; 
but continuing to advance with the baA^onet on our 
militia, they retired, and gained with haste the second 
line. Here, with part of the corps, Pickens took post 
on Howard^s right, and the rest lied to their horses — 
probably with orders to remove them to a further 
distance. Tarleton pushed forwaid, and was receiv- 
ed by his adversary with unshaken firmness. The 
contest became obstinate, and each party, animated by 
the example of its leader, nobly contended f:?r victo- 
ry. Our line maintaiiied itself so firmly, as to oblige 
the enemy to ordeBrrup his reserve. The advance of 
M 'Arthur reanimated the British line which again 
mov^^d forward, and, outstretching our front, endan- 
gered Howard's right. This officer instantly took 



LIFE OF MORGAN. 107 

measures to defmd his flank, by directing his right 
company to ch;in^i its trout; Dut, mibtc.king this order, 
the company feli back, upun which the line began to 
retire, and geiurcd Morgan dirt-cied it to retreat to 
the cavalry. This manoeuvre being performed with 
precision, onr fiank, b;rca?nc relieved, and the new 
position was assumed with promptitude. Conbider- 
ing this retrogade movement the precursor ot flight, 
the B'itish line rushed on with impetuosity and dis- 
ordcj; but as it drew near Howard faced about, and 
gavt it u close and murderous fire. Stunned by this 
unexpected shock, the most advanceci of ihe enemy 
recoiled in confusion. Howard seized the hippy 
moment, and followed his advantage with the bayo- 
net. This decisive step gave- us the day. The re- 
serve having been brcught near the Ime, shared in 
the destruction of our fij e, ai^d presented ro rallying 
point to the ingiiivcs. A part of the enemy's caval- 
ry, having gained our rear, fell on that portion of the 
militia who had retired to their horses. Washirigton 
struck at them with his dragoons, and drove theni 
before him. Thus, by simultaneous efforts, the in- 
fantry and cavalry of the enemy were routed, Mor- 
gan pressed home his success, and the pursuit became 
vigorous and general. The British cavalry, having 
taken no part in the action, except the two troops at- 
tached to the line, were in force to cover the retreat. 
This, however was not done. I^he zeal of lieuten- 
ant colonel VVashington in pursuit having carried him 
far before his squadron, Taricton turned upon him 
with the troop of the seventeenth regiment of dra- 
goons, seconded by many^. of his officers. The A- 
merican lieutenant colonel was first rescued from 
this critical contest by one of his sergeants, and after- 
wards by a fortunate shot from his bugler's pistol. 
This check concluded resistance on the part of the 
British officer, who drevv off with the remains of his 
cavalry, collected his stragglers, and hastened to lord 
Cbrnwallis. The baggage guard, learning the issue 



108 



LIFE OF MORGAN. 



of the battle, moved instantly towards the British 
army. A part of the horse who had shamefully a- 
voided action, and refused to charge when Tarleton 
wheeled on the impetuous Washington, reached the 
camp of Cornwallis at Fisher's creek, about twenty 
five miles from the Cowpens, in the evening. The 
remainder arrived with lieutenanl colonel Tarleton on 
the morning following. In this decisive battle we 
lost about seventy men, ot whom twelve only were 
killed. The British infantry, with the exception of 
the baggage guard, were nearly all killed or taken. 
©ne hundred, including tt^n officers were killed; twen- 
ty-three officers and five hundred privates were taken. 
The artillery, eight hundred muskets, two standards 
thirty- five baggage wagons, and one hundred dragoon 
horses fell into our possession. 

The victory of the Cowpens was lo the south what 
that of Bennington had been to the north. General 
Morgan, whose former services had placed him high 
in public estimation, was now deservedly ranked 
among the most illustrious defenders of his country. 
Starke fought an inferior, Morgan a superior, foe. 
The former contended with a German corps; the lat- 
ter with the elite of the southern army, composed of 
British troops. Starke was nobly seconded bv colo- 
nel Warner and his continental regiment; Morgan 
derived very great aid from Pickens and his militia, 
and was effectually supported by Howard and Wash- 
ington. The weight of the battle fell on Howard; 
who sustained himself gloriously in trying circum- 
stances, and seized with decision the critical moment 
to complete with the bayonet the advantage gained by 
his fire. 

Congress manifested their sense of this important 
victory by a resolve, approving the conduct of the 
principal officers, and commemorative of their distin- 
guished exertions. To general Morgan they present- 
ed a golden medal, to brigadier Pickens a sword, and 



liFE OF morgak; 



iOd 



to lieutenant colonels Howard and Washington a sU- 
% cr medal, and to captain Triplett a sword. 

We would nverely observe, that, in our opinion, 
those honored by their country by such testimonials 
of national gratitude, would do well to deposit them 
in the archives of some public institution. I'he testi- 
monial is then preserved, not liable to casualty; or to 
fall int6 the handsof some ignorant administrator or 
executor, who is insensible of its value, and would 
willingly exchange it for an eagle. If the pride of 
family is consulted, it would thus receive a tenfold 
gratification; the story of the illustrious action it com- 
memorated be read by thousands, who would other- 
wise be ignorant of the fact. We would ask, ^hat 
has now become of the medal granted to Morgan? 

Greene was now appointed to the command of the 
south. After the battle of the Cowpens a controversy 
ensued between that general and Morgan, as to the 
route which the latter should observe in his retreat*. 
He insisted on passing the mountains — a salutary pre- 
caution, if applied to himself, but which was at the 
same time fatal to the operations of Greene. He in- 
formed the general that if that route was denied him, 
be would not be responsible for the consequences. — 
Neither shall you, replied the restorer of the south; I 
I will assume them all on myself. Morgan continued 
in his command until the two divisions of the army 
united at Guilford court-house, when neither pursua- 
sion, entreaty, nor excitement could induce him to 
remain in the service any longer. He retired, and 
devoted himself exclusively to the improvement of his 
farnrv and of his fortune. 

He remained here, in the bosom of retirement at 
Frederic, until he was summoned by president Wash- 
ington to repress, by the force of the bavonet, the in- 
surrection in the western counties of Pennsylvania. 
The executive of Virginia then detached Morgan to 
take the field, at the head of the militia of that state. 

Upon the retreat of the main body, Morgan remain-' 
10 ' 



no 



LIFE ©F MORCAX. 



C(3 in the bosom of the insurgents, until the ensuing 
spring, when he received orders from the president to 
withdraw. For the first time in his life, he novv ap- 
pears to have entertained ideas of political distinction. 
Baffled in his first attempt, he succeeded in his second 
and was elected a memher of the house of representa- 
tives of the United States for the district of Frederic. 
Having served out the constitutional term, he declined 
another election. His health being much impaired, 
and his constitution gradually sinking, he removed 
from Saratoga to the scene of his juvanile years, Ber- 
resville (Battletown) and from thence to Winchester, 
where he closed his long, laborious and useful life. 

Brigadier Morgan was stout and active, six feet in 
height, strong, not too much encumbered with flesh, 
and was exactly fitted for the toils and pomp of war. 
His mind was di5criminating and solid, but not com- 
prehensive and combining. His manners plain and 
decorous, neither insinuating nor repulsive. His con- 
versation grave, sententious and considerate, unadorn- 
ed and uncaptivating. He reflected deeply, spoke 
little, and executed with keen perseverance whatever 
he undertook. He was indulgent in his military com- 
mand, preferring alwavs the affection of his troops, to 
that dread and awe which surround the rigid disci- 
plinarian. 

No man ever lived who better loved th:s world, 
and no man more reluctantly quitted it. He was in 
the habit of expressing this feeling to his intimates 
without reserve, and used to say that he would agree 
to pass much of his life as a gallay slave rather thai^ ex- 
change this world for that unknown. He was the 
yeverse of the great Washington in this respect, whom 
he very much resembled in that happy mixture of 
caution and ardor which distinguished the American 
hero. For the latter, when spei^king upon the subject 
of death, would often declare, that he would not re- 
pass his life was it in his option. Yet no man, con- 
tradictory as it may appear, valued less his life than 



LIFE ©F LEEl 



Hi 



Morgan, when duty called him to meet bis foe. 
Stopped neither by danger nor by difficulty, he rushtd 
into the hottest of the battle, enamored with the glory 
which encircles victory. 

General Morgan, like thousands of mortals when 
nearly worn out by the hand of time, resorted foe 
mental comfort to the solace of religion. He man- 
ifested great penitence for the follies of his early life; 
this was followed by joming the presbyterian church 
in full communion, with which he continued to his 
last day. 



LIFE OF LEE. 



Charles Lee, a major general in the service of 
the United States, during the revolutionary war, was 
an Englishman by birth, and the youngest son of Joha 
Lee, a colonel in the British service. From his early 
youth he was ardent in the pursuit of knowledge; and 
being an officer at eleven years of age, may be consi- 
dered as having been born in the army. This cir- 
cumstance deprived him of some regularity with res- 
pect to the mode uf his education, yet his genius led 
him a'ssiduously to cultivate the fields of science, and 
he acquired a competent knowledge in the languages 
of Greece and Rome; while his fondness for travelling 
gave him also an opportunity of attaining the Italian, 
French, German and Spanish. 

Plaving laid a good foundation, tactics became his 
favourite study, and it seemed to be the height of his 
ambition to distinguish himself in the profession of 
arms. We accordingly find him very early in Amer« 
ica, commanding a company of grenadiers, and he wa.*^ 



ii% 



LIFE OF LEfc. 



WQunded at the battle of Ticonderogo, where general: 
Abercrombie was defeated. 

When he returned to England, from America, after 
the reduction of Montreal, he found a general peace 
was in contemplation. The cession of Canada to the 
French was talked of; a circumstance which gave 
•great uneasiness to the Americans- On this occasion 
he published a pamphlet, shewing the importance of 
Canada to Great Britain. In the year 1 762, he bore a 
colonel's com ission, and served under general Bur- 
goyne, in Portugal, in which service he acquitted him- 
self with the greatest onor. 

Not long after'vards e entered Into the Polish ser- 
vice. Tnough he was absent when the stamp act 
passed, he, yet by his letters, zealously supported the 
cause of America. In the years 1771, 1772 and 1773 
he travelled over all Europe, for he could not content 
Siimself in a life of idleness and inactivity. During 
this excursion he was engaged with an officer in Italy 
in an affair of honor, and he killed his antagonist, es- 
caping himself with the loss of two fingers. 

The destruction of the British East India Compa- 
ny's tea, at Boston, the 16th of December, was a pre- 
lude to the calamities, which afterwards ensued. At 
thi& crisis, general Lee's mind was not unobservant or 
inactive; he both by his conversation and his pen, ani- 
mated the colonists to a great degree, and persuaded 
them to make a persevering resistance. 

During this winter, and the ensuing summer, he 
visited most places of eminence from Virginia to Bos- 
ton, at which last place he arrived on the first of Au» 
gust, 1774. The most active polrtical characters on 
the American theatre, received him every where with 
joy, considering his presence amongst them as a most 
propitious omen. General Gage had novv issued his 
proclamation; and though Lee was on half pay in the 
British service, it did not prevent him from express- 
ing his sentiments in terms of the most pointed severi« 
ty against the ministry. In short, ^ he blazed forth t^ 



L5EE or LEE. 



lis 



ivbig of tht first magnitude, and communicated a 
great portion of his spirit to all with whom he con- 
versed. As he continued travelling from place to 
place, he became known to all, who distinguished 
themselves In this important opposition; his company 
and correspondence were eagerly courted, and many 
occasional political pieces, the production of his pen^ 
were eagerly read and much admired. 

In 1774 he was induced by the persuasion of his 
friend, General Gates, to purchase a valuable tract of 
land, of two or three tliousand acres, in Berkely coun- 
ty, Virginia, where general Gates was at that time set- 
tled. In May 1775 he went to Philadelphia,^ where 
Congress was then assembled. The battle of Lexing- 
ton, and some other matters had ripened the contest; 
and Lee'^s active and enterprising disposition v/as rea- 
dy for the most arduous purposes. He therefore ac- 
cepted the commission of major general from Con« 
gress, and resigned that which he held in the Britisli 
service. 

This he did in a letter, which he transmitted to 
Lord Barrington, then secretary at war; in which he 
assured his lordship that though he had renounced 
his half pay, yet whenever it should please his ma« 
jesty to call him forth to any honorable service a- 
gainst the enemies of his country, no man would obey 
the summons, with more zeal and alacrity than him- 
self; but he, at the same time expressed his disappro- 
bation of the present measures, in the most direct 
terms, declaring them to be so ''absolutely subversive 
of the rights and liberties of every individual subject]^ 
so destructive ta the whole empire at large, h ultimate^ 
ly so ruinous to his majesty ^s own person, dignity and 
family, that he thought himself obliged, in conseicnce 
as a citizen, Englishman and a soldier of a free state^ 
to exert his utmost to defeat them."' 

He accompanieil Washington to the camp at Cam^ 
bridge, where he arrived July 2, 1775, an4 was re- 
ceived with every mark of respect* la the beeiR« 
10* ^ ^'- 



^14 LiFEf OF LEE. 

xiing of the following year he was dispatched to New 
York to prevent the British from obtaining possessioss 
of the city and the Hudson. This trust he executed 
with great wisdom and energy. He disarmed all 
suspicious persons on Long Island, and drew up a 
test to be offered to every one, whose attachment to 
the American cause was doubted. His bold meat? 
surcs carried terror wherever he appeared. He 
seems to have been very fond of this application of a 
test; for in a letter to the president of congress he in- 
forms him, that he had taken the liberty at Newport 
to admmister to a number of the tories a very strong 
oath, one article of which was, that they should take 
arms in defence of their country, if called upon by 
congress, and he recommends, that this mesure should 
be adopted in reference to all the tories in America. 
Those fanatics^ who might refuse to take it, he thought 
should be carried into the interior. 

Congress had now received the account of generals 
Montgomery's unsuccessful expedition against Que- 
bec. As the most flattering expectation had been en- 
tertained of the success of this officer, the event threw 
a gloom on American affairs* To remedy this disas» 
ter, congress directed their attention to general Lee^ 
and resolved that he should forthwith repair to Cana- 
da, and take upon him the command of the army of 
the L/nited Colonies in that province. To this he 
readily consented; but, whilst preparations were, 
making for the important undertaking, congresS: 
changed their determination, and appointed him to the 
command of the southern department, in which he 
became very conspicuous, as a vigilant, brave, and 
active officer. His extensive correspondence, his ad- 
Jress under every difficulty, and his unwearied atten- 
tion to the duties of his station, all evinced his great. 
Military capacity, and extreme usefulness in the cause 
be had espoused.. 

Every testimony of respect was paid him by the 
people of the northern colonies, and he experienced: 
^ similar treatment in his journay to the southward* 



LIFE OP LBK ii& 

Great, in particular, was the joy on his arrival m 
South Carolina, where his presence was seasonable 
and absokuely necessary, as sir Henry Clinton was 
actually preparing for an invasion of thai province^ 
He soon diffused an ardor amongst the miiiiary, at- 
tended with the most saluatary consequf^nces, and his 
diligence and activity at Charleston, previous in the 
attack oa Sullivan's island', which happened on the 
28th June 1776, contributed in eminent degree^ to the 
signal success which was there obtained by the A- 
merican armsr 

In October by the direction of congress he repair- 
ed to the northern army. As he was marching from 
the Hudson through New Jersey, to form a junction 
with Washington in Pennsylvania, he quitted his 
camp ia Morris county to reconnoitre. In this em- 
ployment he went to the distance of three miles from 
the camp and eivtered a house for breakfa^jt. A Bri- 
tish colonel became acquainted with his situation by 
intercepting a countryman, charged with a letter from 
him, and was enabled to take him prisoner. He was 
instantly mounted on ^ horse without his cloak and 
hat, and carried safely to New York. 

The Congress on hearing this news, wrote general 
Washington, desiring hrm to send a flag to general 
Howe, for the purpose of enquiring in what maiintT 
general Lee was treated: and if he found that it wa* 
not agreeable ta his rank, to send a remonstrance to 
general Howe, on the subject. This produced much 
inconvenience to both sides, and much calamity to in- 
dividuals. A cartel had some time before been 
established for the exchange of prisoners between the 
generals Howe and Washington, which bad hitherto 
been carried into execution as far as circumstances 
would admit off but as Lee was particularly obnoxious 
to government, it was said, that general Howe was 
tied dowD by his instructions from parting with him 
an any terms, now that fortune had placed him in hrs 
^owtr. General Washington, not having at this time, 



ii6 



LJFE OF LJSE. 



any prisoner of equal rank, proposed to exchange sise. 
iidd officers for him, the number being intended to 
balance that disparity, or if this was not accepted, h:i 
required that he should be treated suitably to his sta- 
tion, according to the practice of civilized nations, 
till an opportunity ofFered for a direct and i qual ex- 
change. To this, it was answered, that as Mr. Lee 
was a deserter from his majesty's service, he was not 
to be considered as a prisoner of war; that he did not 
at all come within the conditions ot the cartel and 
could receive no benefit from it. This brought on a 
fruitless discussion: in the mean time, however, gen- 
eral Lee was guarded with the vigilance ot a state 
criminal of the first consequence. This conduct not 
only siispended the operation of the cartel, but indu- 
ced retaliation on the American side; and colonel 
Campbell, who had hitherto been treated with great 
humanity by the peopl^ of Boston, was now thrown 
into a dungeon. \ 

These British officers, who were prisoners in the 
southern colonies, though not treated with equal rigcyr, 
were likewise abridged of their parole, it wys, at the 
same time, declared, that their future treatment 
ahould in every degree, be regulated by that, which 
general Lee experienced, and that their persons should 
be ansv/erable^ in the utmost extent, for any violence, 
that was offered to him. Thus matters contmued, 
till the capture of the British army under general 
Burgoyne, at Saratoga, October i7th, 1777. A 
change of conduct then took place towards Lee; he 
was allowed his parole in New York, dined with ma- 
ny principal officers and families, and a short time 
after was exchanged. 

The first military scene in which general Lee was 
engaged after his exchange, was at the battle of Mon- 
mouth, which v/as also his last. Being detached by 
the commander in chief to make an attack upon the 
rear of the enemy, general Washington was pressing 
forward to support him on the twenty eighth day of 



LIFE OF LEE. ii7 

June, when to his astonishment he found him retreat- 
ing without having made a single effort to maintain 
his ground. Meeting him in these circumstances, 
without any previous notice of his plans, Washington 
addressed him in .terms of some warnnh. Lee, being 
ordered to check the enemy, conducted himstli' with 
his usual bravery, and when forced from the ground, 
on which he had been placed, brought off his troops 
in good order. But his haughty temper could not 
brook the indignity, which he believed to have been 
offered him on the field of battle, and he addicssed a 
letter to Washington requiring reparation lor the in- 
jury. 

In consequence of Lee's conduct on this occasion, 
he was put under arrest, and tried by a court martial 
at Brunswick, the 4th of July following. The char- 
ges exhibited against him were: 

1st. For disobedience of orders in not attacking the 
enemy on the 28th of June agreeable to repeated in- 
structions. 

2dly. For misbehaviour before the enemy on the 
same day, by making an unnecessary, disorderly and 
bhameful retreat. 

r.dly. For disrespect to the commander in chief in 
two letters daied the 1st July, and the 28ih June. 

The court met by several adjournments, till the 1 2di 
of August, when they found the unfortunate general 
guilty ef the several charges adduced against him, and 
sentenced him to be suspended from any commission 
in the armies of the United States for twelve months; 
aod this sentence was afterwards confirmed by con- 
gress. 

He now retired disgusted and dist^ppointed to his 
estate in Berkely county, Virginia, where he remained 
riving in a stile peculiar to himself, in a house n>ore 
like a barn than a palace. Glass windows and plais- 
terirg would have been luxurious extravagance, and 
bis furniture consisted of a very few necessary arti- 
cles; however, h^ had got a few select valaable authors, 



iiU 



JJFE OP LEB. 



and these enabled him to pass away his time in this 
obscurity. In the autumn of 1782, he began to be 
weary with the sameness of his situation; and expe- 
riencing his unfitness for the management of country 
business, he came to a determination to sell his estate, 
and procure a little settlement near some sea-port 
town, where he might learn what the world was doing 
and enjoy the conversation of mankind. 

He, therefore, left Berkely, and came to Baltimore, 
where he stayed a week with some old friends, and 
then took his leave for Philadelphia, where he took 
lodgings-^t an inn, the sign of the Connestogoe wag- 
gon, in Mpirket street. After being three or four 
days in the city, he was seized with a fever, which cut 
him off, after an illness of a few days, 2d October, 
1782. In his last struggle, he seemed to have lost his 
senses, and, it is said, that the last words he was heard 
to express were, <'stand by me, my brave grenadiers." 
In his last illness he was attended by no one but Mr. 
Oswald, the pi inter, who had served as an officer un- 
der him. 

**The character of general Lee," says Dr. GordoHi 
*' vas full of absurdities and qualities of a most extra- 
ordinary nature. His understanding was great, his 
memory capacious, and his fancy brilliant. His 
mind was stored with a variety of knowledge, which 
he collected from books, conversation, and travels. 
He was a correct and elegant classical scholar, and 
both wrote and spoke his native language with pro- 
priety, force and beauty. From these circumstances 
he was, at times, a most ngreeable and instructive 
companion. His temper was nator^dly sour and se- 
vere. He was seldom seen to laugb, and scarcely to 
smile. The history of his life is little else than the 
history of disputes, quarrels and (iufis, in every part 
of the world. He was vindictive, avaricious, immor- 
al, impious and profane. 

*^ln his principles, he was not only an infidel, but 
be was very hostile to every attribute of the Deity. 



UFE OF LE£. 



119 



His morals were exceedingly debauched. His man- 
ners were rude, partly from nature, and partly from 
affectation. His appetite was so whimsiciul, as to 
what he ate and drank, thnt he was at all times, 
and in most places, a most troublesome guest. He 
had been bred to arms from his }outh, and served as 
lieutt-nant colonel amongst the British, as colonel 
amongst the Portuguese, and afterwards, as aid-de- 
camp t(i his Polish majesty, with the rank of major 
gcat-ral." 

*'He was extremely useful to the Americans in the 
bfginnir.g of the revolution, by inspiring thtm with 
military ideas, and a contempt for British discipline 
and valor. It is difficult to say, whether the active 
and useful part he t'ok in the contest, arose from per- 
sonal resentment agoiust Great Britain , or from a re- 
gard to the lil^trties of America. It is certain he re- 
probated the French alliance and republican form of 
government, after he retired from the American ser- 
vice. He was in the field, brave in the highest de- 
gree; and with all his faults and oddities, was beloved 
hv his officers and soldiers. He was devoid of pru- 
dence, and used to call it a rascally virfue. His par- 
tiality to dogs was too remarkable not to be mention- 
ed in his character. Two or three of these ani- 
mals followed him generally wherever he went* 
When congress confirmed the sentence of the *court- 
martial, suspending him for twelve months, he pointed 
to his ^og and exclaimed, ''O that I were that ani- 
mal, that I might not call ?n«n my brother.'' Two 
virtues he possessed in an eminent degree, viz: sin* 
cerity and veracity » He was never known to deceive 
or desert a friend; and he was a stranger to equivo- 
cation, even where his safety or character were at 
stake. 



LIFE OF ARNOLD, 



Benedict Arnold, a major general in the Ameri- 
can army, and infamous for deserting the cause of hh 
country, vvas early chosen captain of a volunteer com- 
pany in New Haven, Connecticut, where he lived. 
After hearing of the battle of Lexington he immedi- 
ately marched with his company for the American 
bead- quarters, and reached Cambridge April 29, 1775. 

He immediately waited on the Massachusetts com- 
mittee of safety, and informed them of the defenceless 
state of ficonderoga. The committee appointed him 
a colonel, and commissioned him to raise four hundred 
men, and to take that fortress^' He proceeded direct- 
ly to Vermont, and when he arrived at Castleton was 
attended by one servant only. Here he joined colonel 
Allen, and on May 10th the fortress was taken. 

In the fall of 1775 he was sent by the commander 
in chief to penetrate through the wilderness of the dis- 
trict of Maitie into Cmada. On the 16ih of Septem- 
ber he commenced his march with about one thousand 
men, consisting of Nt w England infantry, some vo- 
lunteers, a company of artillery, and three companies 
of riflemt-n. One division v»'as obliged to return, or 
it would have perished by hunger. After sustaining 
almost incredible hardships he in six weeks arrived 
at Point Levi, opposite to Quebec. The appearance 
of an army, emerging from the wilderness, threw the 
city into the greattrst consternation. In this moment 
of surprise Arnold might probably have become mas- 
ter of the place, but the small crafts and boats in the 
river were removed out of his reach» 

It seems that his approach was not altogether unex- 
pected. He had imprudently, a number of days be- 
fore, sent, forward a letter to a friend by an Indian 
who betrayed him. A delay of several days on ac- 
count of the difficult\ of passing the river vvas inevi- 
table, and the critical moment was lost. 



hWE OT ARMOL», iSl 

On the 14th of November he crossed the St. Law- 
rence in the night; and, ascending the precipice, whick 
Wolf had climbed before him, formed his small corps 
on the height near the memorable plains of Abraham* 
With only about seven hundred men, one third .of 
whose muskets had been rendered useless in tha 
march through the wilderness, success tould not be 
expected. After parading some days on the heights 
near the town^ and sending two fiags to summon the 
inhabitants, he retired to Point aux Trembles, twenty- 
miles above Quebec, and there waited the arrival of 
Montgomery, who joined hira on the first of Decem- 
ber. The city was immediately besieged, but the 
best measures had been taken for its defence. On 
the morning of the last day of the year an assault was 
made on the one side of the city by Montgomery, who 
was killed. At the same time colonel Arnold, at the 
head of about three hundred and fifty men, made a 
desperate attack on the opposite side. Advancing 
with the utmost intrepidity along the St. Charles 
through a narrow path, exposed to an incessant fire of 
grape shot and inusketry, as he approached ihe first 
barrier he received a musket ball in the leg, which 
shattered the bone; and he was carried off to the 
camp. Though the attack was unsuccessful, the 
blockade of Quebec was continued till May 1776p 
when the army, which was in no condition to risk an 
assault was removed to a more defensible ^position. 
Arnold was compelled to relinquish one post after 
another, till the 18th of June, when he quitted Cana- 
da. After this period he exhibited great bravery in 
the command of the American fleet on lake Cham- 
.plain. 

In August 1777 he relieved fort Schuvler under 
tht command of colontl Granesvoort, which was in- 
vested by colonel St. Leger with an army of from fif- 
teen to eighteen hundred men. In the battle near 
Stillwater, September the nineteenth, he conducted 
Mmsdf with his usual intrepidity, being engaged, in- 
ti 



1§^ IME OF ARNOLD. 

cessantly, for four hours. In the action of October 
the seventh, alter the British had been driven into 
the hncs, Arnold pressed forward and under a tre- 
xnendous fire assaulted the works throughout their 
vhole extent from right to left. The intrenchments 
»vere at length forced, and with a few men he actually 
entered the works; but his horse being killed, and he 
himself badly wounded in the leg, he found it neces- 
sary to withdraw, and as it was now almost dark, to 
desist from the attack. 

Being rendered unfit for active service in conse- 
quence of his wound, after the recovery of Philadel- 
phia he was appointed to the command of the Ameri- 
can garrison. When he entered the city, he made 
the house of governor Penn, the best house in the city, 
his head quarters. This he furnished in a very costly 
manner, and lived far beyond his income. He had 
wasted the plunder, which he had seized at Montreal 
in his retreat from Can^a; and at Philadelphia he 
was determined" to make new acquisitions. He laid 
his hands on every thing in the city, which could be 
considered as the property of those, who were un- 
friendly to the cause of his country. He was charg- 
ed with oppression, extortion, and enormous chaiges 
upon the public in his accounts, and with applying the 
public money and property to bis own private use. 
Such was his conduct, that he drew upon himself the 
odium of the inhabitants nnt only of the city, but of 
the province in general. He was engaged in tradings 
speculations and had shares in several privateers, but 
was unsucccssfuh 

From the judgement of the commissioners, who 
had been appointed to inspect his accounts, and 
who had rejected alxive half the anK)unt of his de- 
mands, he appealed to congress, and they appointed a 
committee of their own body to examine and settle 
^he business: The commiltte confirmed the report of 
the commissioners, and thought they had allowed him 
snore than he hsd any right to expect or demand,. 



LIFE 6F ABNOLP. iSS 

By these disappointments he became irritated and he 
gave full scope to his resentment. His invectives 
against congress were not less violent, than those, 
which he had before thrown out against the commis- 
sioners. He was, however, soon obliged to abide the 
judgement-^of a court martial upon the charges, ex 
hibited against him by the executive of Pennsylvania, 
and he was subjected to the mortification of receiving 
a reprimand from Washington. His trial commcn-* 
ced in June 1^78, but such were the delays occasion- 
ed by the movements of the army, that it was not con- 
cluded until the 26th of January ir7'9. The sen- 
tence of a reprimand was approved by congress, and 
was soon afterwards carried into execution. 

Such was the humiliation, to which general Arnold 
was reduced in consequence of yielding to the tempta- 
tions of pride and vanity, and indulging himself in the 
pleasures of a sumptuous table and expensive equi- 
page. 

From this time probably his proud spirit revolt- 
ed from the cau3e of America. He turned his eyes- 
to West Point as an acquisition, which would give 
value to treason, while its loss would inflict a mortal 
wound on his former friends. He addressed himself 
to the delegation of New York, in which state his 
reputation was peculiarly high, and a member of con- 
gress from this state recommended him to Washington 
tor the service, wlr.ch he desired. But this request 
couM*not be immediately complied with. The same 
application to the commander in chief was made not 
long afterwards throtjgh general Schuyler. Washing- 
ton observed, that as there was a prospect of an active 
campaign he should be gratified with the aid of gen- 
eral Arnold in the field, but intimated at the same 
time, that he should receive the appointment request- 
ed, if it should be more pleasing to him. 

^Arnold without discovering much solicitude repair- 
ed to camp in the beginning of August, and renewed 
1 V. r-ersoa tht :>olicitatLons, which had been before 



ifldircctly made. He was now ol!erecl the comrnaRd 
of the left wing of the arm)-, which was advancing^ 
against New York, but he dieclined it under the" pre- 
text, that in consequence of his wounds, he was una- 
ble to perform the active duties of the field. With- 
out a suspicion of his patfiotisna he was invested with 
the command of West Point. Previously to his soli- 
citing this station, he had in a letter to colonel Robin- 
son signified h?s change of principles and his wish to 
restore himself to the favor ot his prince, by some 
signal proof of his repentance. This letter opened to 
him a correspondence with sir Henry Clinton, the ob- 
ject of which was to concert the means of putting the 
important post, which he commanded, into the /50S* 
session of the British general. 

His plan, it is believed, was to have drawn the 
greater part of his army without the works under the 
pretext of fighting the enemy in the defilfcs, and to 
bave left unguarded a designated pass, through which; 
the assailants might securely approach and stirpriss 
the fortress. His troops he intended to place, so that 
they would be compelled to surrender, or be cut iii 
pieces. But just as his scheme was ripe for execu^ 
tion, the wise Disposer ot events, who so often and- 
so remarkably interposed in favor of the American, 
caus«, blasted his designs. 

Major Andre, adjutant general of the British army,, 
was selected as the person, to whom the maturing o£ 
Arnold's treason and the arrangements for its execu- 
tion should be committed. A correspondence was; 
for some time carried on between them under a mer- 
cantile disguise and the feigned names of Gustavus 
and Anderson; and at length to facilitate their com- 
munications, the Vuhurc sloop of war moved up the 
North river and took a station convenient for the pur- 
pose, but not so near as to excite suspicion. An in^-. 
ierview was agreed oa,, and in the night of September 
the twenty first 1780, he was taken in a boat, whicli. 
was dispatched for the purpose,, and sarrjed tp. tl^s. 



ttFE OF ARNOLD. ^^i^ 

feeach without the posts of both armies under a pass 
for John Anderson. He met general Arnold at the 
bouse of a Mr. Smith, While the conference was 
yet unfinished, day light approached; and to avoid the 
danger of discovery, it was proposed, that he should 
remain concealed till the succeeding night. He is 
understood to have refused to be carried within the 
American' posts, but the promise made him by Ar- 
nold to respect this objection was not observed. He 
was carried within them contrary to his wishes and 
against his knowledge* He continued with Arnold 
the succeeding day, and when on the following nighe 
he proposed to return to the Vulture, the boatmen re« 
fused to carry him, because she had, during the day, 
shifted her station in consequence of a gun having 
been moved to the shore and brought to bear upon her^ 
This embarrassing circumstance reduced him to the 
necessity of endeavouring to reach New York by land* 
Yielding v»'ith reluctance to the urgent representations 
of Arnold^ he laid aside his regimentals, which he had 
hitherto worn under a surtout, and put on a plain suit 
of clothes; and receiving a pass from the American 
general, authorizing him, under the feigned natne of 
John Anderson, to proceed on the public service to the 
White Plains, or lower, if he thought proper, he set 
on his return. He had passed all the guards and 
posts on the road without suspicion, and was proceed-^ 
ing to New York in perfect security, when, on the 
twenty third of September, one of the three militia- 
men, wlio were employed with others in scouting par- 
ties between the lines of he two armies, springing: 
suddenly from his covert into the road, seiz. d the 
reins ot his bridle and stopped his horse. Instead of 
producing his pass, Andre, with a want of self posses-- 
sion, which can be attributed only to a kind provi-- 
dence, asked the man hastily, where he belon d, and' 
being answered, *'to below," replied iramediatelv^. 
*^and so do I.*' He then declared himself to be a* 
British officer,, on urgent business, and begeed- that he^ 



i:2§- 



LIFE OE ARNOLD. 



might not be detained. The otber two militia mer? 
coming up at this moment, he discovered his mistake; 
but it was too late to repair it. He oflVred a purse 
of gold and a valuable watch, to which he added the 
most tempting promises of ample rev/ard and perraa 
nent provision ftom the government, if they would 
permit him to escape; but his offers were rejected 
without hesitation. 

The militia men,, whose names were John Pauld- 
ing, David Williams and Isaac Vanwert, proceeded 
to search him. They found concealed in his boots 
exact returns, in Arnold^s hand writing, of the state of 
xhe forces, ordnance, and defences at West Point and 
its dependencies, critical remarks on the works, and an. 
estimate of the men ordinarily employed in them, with 
other interesting papers, Andre was carried before 
lieutenant colonel Jameson, the officer commanding 
the scouting parties on the lines, and, regardless of 
himself and only anxious for the safety of Arnold, he 
still maintained the character, v/hich he had assumed,^ 
and requested Jameson to inform his commanding 
officer, that Anderson was taken. An express was 
accordingly dispatched, and the traitor, thus becom- 
ing acquainted with his danger, escaped. 

Major Andre, after his detection, was permitted to 
send a message to Arnold to give him notice of his 
danger; and the traitor found opportunity to escape 
©n board the Vulture, on the 25th of September, 1780 
a few hours before the return of Wasliington, who 
had been absent on a journey to Hartford, Connecticut^ 
It is supposed however, that he would not have es" 
caped, had not an express to the commander in chief, 
with an account of the capture of Andre, missed hirn 
by taking a different road from the one, which he tra- 
velled. 

Arnold on the very day of his escape wrote a letter- 
to Washington, declaring that the love of his country 
had governed him in his late conduct, and requesting, 
¥im to protect Mrs. Arnolds She was conyej^ed: to- 



LIFE OF AIIN^OLD; i'^T 

fter husbanJ at New York, and his clothes and bag- 
gage, for which he had written, were transmitted to 
him. During the exerrions, which were made to res- 
cue Andre from the destruction, which threatened him 
Arnold had the hardihood to interpose. He appeal- 
ed to the humanity of the commander in chief, and 
then sought to intimidate him b)' stating the situation 
ot n?any of the principal characters of South Carolina, 
who had. forfeited their lives, but had hitherto been 
spared through the clemencj^ ol the British general,- 
This clemency, he said could no longer in justice be 
extended to them, should major Andre suffer. 

Arnold was made a brigadier general in the British 
service; which rank he preserved throug-hout the war. 
Yet he must have been held in contempt and detesta- 
tion by the generous and honorable. It was imposi- 
ble for men of this description, even when acting with 
him to forget that he was a traitor, first the slave of 
his rage, then purchased with gold, and finally secured 
by the blood ot one of the most accomplished officers 
hi the British army. One would suppose, that his 
raind could not have been much at ease; but he had 
proceeded so far in vice, that perhaps his reflections 
gave him but little trouble. ''I am mistaken," says 
Washington in a private letter/*if a^//n'5 time Arnold 
is undergoing the torments of a mental hell. He 
wants feeling. From some traits of his character,^ 
which have lately come to my knowledge, he seems to 
have been so hacknied in crime, so lost to all sense of 
honor ^nd shame, that while his faculties still enable 
him to continue his sordid pursuits, there will be no 
iLimc for remorse." 

Arnold found it necessary to make some exertion? 
to secure the attachment of his new friends. Witlr 
:he hope of alluring many of the discontented to his 
standard, he published an address to the rnhabitants of 
Annerka, in which he endeavoured to justify his con- 
dbct. Hfe had encountered the dangers of the field, 
\q. said from apprehension, that the rights of his coun- 



^^ UFE t)F ARNOLD. 

try were in danger. He had acquiesed in the decj?.*' 
ration of indepi^ndence, though he thought it precipi- 
late. But the rrj' ction of the overtures, nitad*^ by 
Grtf at Britain in 1778, and the French alliance, had 
opened his eyes to the ambitions views of those, who 
would sacrifice the happiness of their country to their 
own aggrandizement, and had made him a confirmed 
loyalist. He artfully mingled assertions, that the prin- 
cipal members of congress held the people in sover- 
eign contempt. 

This was followed in about a fortnight by a procla- 
mation, addressed *^to the oSicers and soldiers of the 
continental army, who have the real interest of their 
country at heart, and who are determined to be no 
longer the tools and dupes of congress or of France." 
To induce the American officers and soldiers to 
dusfc^rt the cause, which they had embraced, he repre- 
sented that the corps of cavalry and infantry, which he 
v/as authorized to raise, would be upon the same 
footing with the other troops in the British service; 
that he should with pleasure advance those, whose 
valor he had v^itnessed; and that the private men, who 
joined him shoold receive a bounty of three guineas 
each, besides payment at the full value for horses, 
arms, and accoutrements. His object was the peace, - 
liberty, and safety of America. ''You are promised^ 
liberty," he exclaims, *'but is there an individual in 
the enjoyment of it saving your oppressors? Who^' 
among you dare speak cr writ^ what he thinks against 
the tyranny, which his robbed you of your property, 
imprisotss your persons, drags you to the field of 
battle, and is daily deluging your country with your 
blood? "'What,'* he exclaims again, "is America 
now but a land of widows, orphans and beggars? 
As to you, who have been soldiers in the continental 
army, can you at this day want evidence, that the 
funds of your country are exhausted, or that the man- 
agers have applied them to their private uses? 

In either case you s^urely can no longer continue Ib 



UFE ©F ARNOLD. iS9^ 

»iieir service with honor or advantage. Yet you have 
hitherto been their supporters in that cruelty, which 
with equal indifference to yours as well as to the labor 
and blood of others, is devouring _a country, that 
from the moment you quit their colors will be redeem- 
ed from their tyranny." 

These proclamapons did not produce the effect de- 
signed, and in all the hardships, sufferings and irrita- 
tions of the war, Arnold remains the solitary instance 
of an American officer, who abandons the side firs* 
embraced in the contest, and turned his sword upon 
his former companions in arms. 

He was soon dispatched by sir Henry Clinton to 
make a diversion in Virginia. With about seventeen 
hundred men he arrived in the Chesapeake in January 
1731, and being supported by such a naval force, as 
was suited to the nature of the service, he committed 
extensive ravages on the rivers and along the unpro- 
tected coasts. It is said, that while on this expeds- 
tk^n Arnold enquired of an American captaio, whota 
he had taken prisoner, what the Americans would do 
with him, if he shuuld fall into their hands. The cap- 
tain at first declined giving him au ansv/er; but upon 
being repeatedly urged to it, he said, '-'why, sir, if 
** I must answer your question, you must excuse my 
*^ telling you the plain truth; if my countrymen 
" should catch von, I believe they would first cu'c 
^ off that lame Itg, which was wounded in the cause 
^ ^//''^tlom and virtue, and bury it with the honovi}^ 
^'ofwar aud aflerwards tiarig the remaindtr of 
"^ your body in gibbets*'* The reader will recollect 
that the captain alluded to the wound Arnold recei- 
ved in one of his legs at the attack upon Quebeck in- 
J776. 

After his re furn from Virginia, he was appointed 
to conduct an expedition, the object of which was the 
town of New London, in his native country. The 
Jroops employed therein, were landed in two detach- 
ments, as oa each. side of the.harbora The odc com- 



ISO 



Lira OF ARNajL'l^ 



mandcd by lieutenant colonel Eyre and the other by 
Arnold. He took Fort Trumbull without much op- 
position. Fort Griswold was furiously attacked by 
lieutenant colonel Eyre. The garrison defended 
themselves with great resolutionj but after a severe 
conflict of forty minutes, the fort was carried by the 
enemy. The Americans had not more than six or 
seven men killed, when the British carried the lines, 
but a severe execution took place afterwards, though 
resistance had ceased. An officer of the conquering 
troops enquired on his entering the tort, who com- 
manded. Colonel Ledyard, presenting his swordy 
answered,*'! did, but you do now;'^ and wasimmedi. 
ately run through the body and killed. Between 30 
and 40 were wounded and about, 40 were carried oflf 
prisoners. On the part of the British 48 were killed 
and 145 wounded. About 15 vessels loaded with 
the effects of the inhabitants, retreated up the rivef, 
and tour others remained m the harbor unhurt; but 
all excepting these were burned by the communica- 
tion or fire Item tne oumirig s^cre?. Sixty dwelling' 
houses and eighty four stores were reduced to ashes. 
The loss which the Americans sustained by the de- 
struction ol naval stores, of provisions, and merchan- 
dize, was imtnense. General Arnold having com- 
pleted the object of the expedition, returned in eight 
days to New York. 

From the conclusion 6f the war till his death general 
Arnold resided chiefly in England. He dkd in Glou- 
cester place, London, June 14,1801. His character 
presents little to be commended. His daring courage 
ma) indeed excite admiration; but it was a courage 
without reflection and without principle. He fought 
bravely for his country and he bled in her cause; but 
his country "wed him no returns of gr:uituded, for 
his subsequent conduct proved, that h*. had no honest 
regard to her interests, but was go^verned by selfish 
consider tions. His progress from self indulgence to 
treason was easy and rapid. He was vain aadluxi: 



LiEE OF JONES. 13 £ 

rious, and to gratify his giddy desires he must resort 
to meanness, dishonesty, and extortion. These vices 
brough' with thtm disgrace; and the contempt, into 
which he tell, awakened a spirit of revenge, and left 
him to the unrestrained influence of his cupidity and 
passion. Thus from the high fame, to which his 
bravery h <d elevated him, he descended into infamy. 
Thus tot; htf furnished new evidence of the infatua- 
tion of the human mind in attaching such value to the 
reputation of a soldier, which may be obtained while 
the heart is unsound and cvcry moral sentiment is ea- 
tsrely depraved. 



LIFE OF JONES. 



Paul Jones, one of the most enterprising and re- 
solute mariners America had during the contest with 
Great Britain, was born in the month of June 1748, 
in Scotland. He came to America in the year 17T4! 
and solicited from several of the leading whigstobe 
employed in the service of Congress. He also made 
several important communications to members of con- 
gress respecting England, and in return received sev- 
eral sums of money. It was then agreed that Jones 
should go to Europe for particular information,and he 
set sail and arrived in England as captain Jones* of 
New York, The English government not being 
aware of the character thiit had arrived, he was at li- 
berty to go about the capital, and dwelt for a short 
time in Wapping, daily buying maps, charts, sound- 
ing, and other articles relating to the home naviga- 
tion. At his return he was strictly examined by se- 
veral scientific persons, respectingjthe coasts and har- 
bors of England, Ireland, and Scotland^ the result ok 



13^ LIS'E OF AUNOLt. 

which was, a very flattering distinction paid to him b? 
the leaders of the Anaerican opposition, and he was 
soon after appointed to the command of one of the 
privateers fitted out against England. His success 
greatly contributed to raise him in the opinion of the 
great men in America; who in a short time were so 
thoroughly satisfied with his spirited conduct, that 
they imposed no sort of command on him, but left 
him to act consistent with his own ideas, on all occa- 
sions. He proved a far greater annoyance to British 
traders in those parts than any other commander in the 
service of America. 

Paul was now employed to fit out the small squad- 
ron which Congress had placed under commodore 
Hopkins, who had the command of all the armed 
vessels then belonging to America; and it is a well 
known fact, that Jones hoisted with his own hands 
the first Amerkan flag ever displayed, on board the 
Alfred. 

He was now appointed to the command of the ship 
Providence, and was ordered to escort some troops 
lliat were proceeding from Rhode Island to New York 
and who were destined to join general Washington's 
camp. He also received instructions to escort a con- 
voy of artillery and ammunition from Rhode Isfard to 
New York, for the defence of which it was destined. 
During the passages, he had two different engage- 
ments with the Cerborus frigate; the first for the pro- 
tection of the vessels under his command, and the sec- 
ond for the preservation of a vessel from St. Domin- 
go, laden with naval stores for Congress. In the 
course of this service, he had many actions with ships 
^f war under the command of lord Howe; but on 
these, as«on former occasions, he was enabled to pre- 
serve his convoy; and at length arrived safe in the 
Delaware, August 1, 1776. On the eighth of August 
the President of Congress presented Paul Jones in 
person with the commission of captain in the marine 
oi the United States, This was the first granted bv 



XlFE 01' JONJ^S. i33 

'Cbiigress after the declaration of independence. The 
orders of Congress had been given, for the construction 
of thirteen frigates; but as none of them were yet rea- 
dy, he proceeded to sea alone, on board the Provi- 
dence, a vessel of small force, as she carried no more 
than seventy men, and twelve small cannon. When in 
the neighborhood of Bermudas, they fell in with the 
Solebay, and her convoy, from Charleston. She was 
a thirty gun frigate, and formed part of the squadron 
under Admiral Parker. Captain Jones was of course 
desirous of avoiding an engagement with such superi- 
or force; but his officers and men insisted that it was 
necessary to command by means of persuasion at thjs 
epoch of the war, the result was a serious engage-^ 
ment during six hours, which, towards the close, was 
carried on within pistol shot. A desperate manoeuvre 
was the sole resource left hrm; he attempted, succeed- 
ed, and was fortunate enough to disengage himself, 
A short time after this, he took several prizes, and 
■sailed tov/ards the coast of Nova Scotia, to destroy 
the whtile and cod fisheries in that neighborhood. — . 
Near Sable Island, they fell in with the Milford fri- 
ipate, cJirrying thirty. two guns, with which it was im- 
|)ossible to avoid an engagement* A cannonade took 
place from ten oVlock in the morning until sun-set; 
but the engagement was neither so close nor so hot as 
that with the Solebay, and Paul escaped, by passing 
through the flats, and entered a little harbour next day 
where he destroyed the fishery and vessels. After 
this, he set sail for lie Madame, where he made two 
•descents; at the same time destroying the fisheries, 
and burning all the vessels he could not carry with 
;Jrr.. Having accomplished this service, he returned 
to Uhode Island, after an absence of'beven weeks 
from the Delaware; during which interval he had ta- 
'x'cn sixteen prizes, without including those destroyed. 
The AuiCricans had determined on destro^ying the 
enemy's fisheries at He Royal, and restoring to liberty 
n-'.Grs than three hundred American .prisoners detain*- 

12 



i B4i UFE OF J0N£S. 

cd there in tbc coal mines. Three vessels were des- 
tined for this service, the Alfred, Hampden, and the 
Providence; but the Hampden, commanded by Ar- 
uold, having received considerable damage in conse- 
quence of running on a rock, could not accompany 
him. He, however embarked on board the Alfred, 
and taking the Providence by way of consort, he set 
sail, on the second of November, 1776. The first he 
SBade prize of was a vessel from Liverpool, and scon 
after the Mellish, a large armed vessel, havirg two 
British naval officers on board, and a captain belong- 
ing to the land service, with a company of soldiers. — 
The ship was carrying ten thoiisand complete suits 
of uniform to Canada, for the army posted there under 
the orders of generals Carleton and Burgoyne. No- 
thing could be more seasonable or welcome to the 
American service than this capture; and they were so 
sensible of it, that Congress ordered their secretary to 
transmit the public thanks of the country to him, his 
officers, and men. The Providence having left the 
Alfred during the night, without the least pretext 
"whatever, he remained alone, and that too during the 
stormy season on the enemy's coast; but notwithstand- 
ing this, and that he was also greatly embarrassed with 
numerous prisoners, he resolved not to renounce his 
project. He according effected a descent, destroyed 
a transport of great value, and also burned the maga- 
zines and buildings destined for the whale and cod 
fishery. In addition to this, he took three transports, 
and a vessel laden with ling and furs, near He Hoy- 
ale; these prizes were escorted by the Flora frigate, 
which happ<^ned to be at a small distance, but was con- 
cealed from him by a fog. Having taktn a large pri- 
vateer from Liverpool, mounting sixteen guns, in the 
course of next da^, he instantly returned with his pri- 
zes towards the United States; but, when in the lati- 
ti^de of Boston, fell in with the Milford frigate, which 
he un\^i^ingly engaged. Towards night, however,he 
pificed the Alfred bet'.vetn the enemy and his. prize? 



LIFE OF JONES iSo 

and having given the necessary instructions to the lat- 
ter to nnakefor the nearest port, he changed his course 
set up his lights, and by this stratagem saved the ves- 
sels he had captured, as the frigate continued in chace 
of him. Next day he was fortunate enough to escape 
after a serious action, which was not terminated until 
dark, and even then in consequence of a hard gale of 
wind. Having returned to Boston, December 1, 
1 r76, the intelligence of the uniforms he had taken, re- 
animated the courage of the army under general Wash- 
ington, which at that period happened to be almost 
destitute of clothing. Besides, this unexpected suc- 
cour contributed not a little to the success of the affair 
at Trenton against the Hessians, which took place im- 
mediately after his arrival. He now paid out of his 
own purse the wages doe to the crews of the /Vlfred 
and the Providence, and lent the rest of his money to 
Congress. 

Jones was now ordered to take command of the 
Ranger, a vessel mounting eighteen guns. In 1177 
he sailed for France, where he arrived February 1778^ 
He then saikd for the place of his birth, and then his 
father's residence, the coast of Scotland. It was his 
intention to take the Earl of Selkirk prisoner, and de = 
tain his lordship as a hostage. With this view, hi 
landed with two officers and a few picked men. In 
the course of their progress they fell in with several of 
his lordship's tenants, who, not suspecting they were 
enemies, informed them that lord Selkirk was in Lon- 
don, but that her ladyship and several female friends 
were then at the Castlcr. Paul immediately proposed 
returning, but such mild conduct was not conformable 
to the wishes of his ship mates, who were inclined to 
burn, pillage, h destroy, every thing before them. Thua 
circumstanced, he perceived it necessary to conciliate 
his people, and it appeared to him to be the best mode 
to give orders to the two officers to repair to the Cas- 
tle, station the men under arms without, and enter by 
themselves. They wereinstructed to deiT^and the fam- 



iSG UFE OS' JONES. 

jly plate, In the politest manner, accept what w.l3 givci^ 
v/ithoiit asking questions, and then to return. In thi^. 
order he was punctually obeyed; the plate was deliver- 
i»id, and lady Selkirk observed to the officers, that she 
%vas extremely sensible of their moxJeration. 

Next day, April 23, 1778^ he prepared to sail for 
Carrickfergus, to attack the Drake, a British twenty 
gun ship; bat the lieutenants were averse to this en- 
terprise, and, by their example, most of the crew be*^ 
came mutinous, and it was their intenUon to have 
stood out to sea, and left him ashore at Whitehaven. 
In the mean while, the captain of tlie Drake receiving 
.information of their descent at Whitehaven, prepared 
to attack Jones. While every thing was getting rea- 
dy, he sent a lieutenant and boats crew to recannoitre 
the Ranger; Jones immediately masked all his guns, 
kept hiB men out of sight, and disguised the vessel id 
such a way as to resemble a merchantman; n conse- 
quence of which, the boat's crew were uieceived and 
Taken prisoners; and the Ranger*s people were so elat< 
ed at this success, that they unanimously agreed to 
give her battle. 

The Drake, having tired a gun to recal her boat, 
weighed anchor and came out. The Ranger lay toe , 
till she came within pistol shot, when the action com. 
raenced, with much gallantry, on both sides. After a 
bard fought battle of sixty eight minutes, during 
which the captain and the first lieutenant of the Drake, 
iKjbly fell, the English flag was lowered, and Jones 
took possession of his prize. The Drake was greatly 
damaged in her masts, hull, and rigging, and lost 
about forty-two men in killed and wounded. He ar- 
rived with the Ranger and Drake at Brest on tre Tth 
of May, after an absence of twenty eight days, during 
%vhich he had taken upwards of two hundred prison- 
ers. I'his expedition was of great detriment to Great 
Britain. ' ^^ 

At the time Jones bad l>eeD obliged to pern^it his 
people to take lady Selkirk's plate,, he detern^incd tc 



LIFE OF JONES. 



137 



redeem it out of his ovvn funds, the moment it should 
be sold, and restore it to the family. Accordingly, 
on his arrival at Brest, he instantly despatched a pa- 
thetic letter to her ladyship, in which he detailed the 
motives of his expedition, and the cruel necessity he 
was under, in consequence of the conduct of the Eng- 
lish in America, to inflict the punishment of retalia- 
tion. This was sent open to the government of Eng- 
land and its ministers; and the court of St. James was 
at length obliged to exchange those very Americans, 
whom they called traitors, pirates, and felons, against 
the prisomfTs of war, whom Paul had taken and carri* 
€d to France, 

During the course of the war, he found it impossi- 
ble to restore the plate belonging to the Selkirk family^ 
he, however, purchased it at a great price, and at 
length found means to send it by land from I'OrienC 
to Calais, by means of M. de Calloune, who trans- 
mitted him a very flattering letter on the occasion: m 
shorty he at length received a very flattering letter from 
the earl of Selkirk, ackrrowledging the receipt of the 
plate, 

Jon^s now took the command of a forty gun ship, 
nulled the Good Man Richard, and had attached to 
him Le Pallas, of thirty two eight pounders, and a brig 
named Le Vengeance, of twelve three pounders; to 
these was added Lc Cerf, a cutter carrying eighteen 
nine pounders, with the Alliance, a new frigate be« 
longing to the United States. 

This little squadron, at length set sail from the road 
of Groays, on the 14th of August, 1779; but they had 
no sooner proceeded to the north of the channel, when 
three of his vessels were separated from him during 
the night. On the morning of the 23d of September, 
while he was cruising in the latitude of Flamborough 
Head, where he hoped to be rejoined by the Alliance 
and Le Cerf, and also to fall in with the Baltic fleet, 
this convoy accordingly appeared, at a time vrhen he 
h^ been ab^4oned by several of his con&orta; ha^ 
1%^ 



iSS 



UFJfir m joNas, 



lost two boats with their crews^ who had run away^ or„ 
the coast of Ireland, and when a third, with eighteen 
men onboard, was in chase of a merchantman, to the 
windward, leaving, him with only a scanty crew and a 
single lieutenant, with some inferior officers on boards 
It was about two o'clock in the afternoon that the 
Baltic fleet appeared in vie W| he thei? happened to 
have the wind of it, and was about two leagues distant 
i!rom the coast of England, He learned from his pri- 
soners, that the convey was escorted by the Serapis, s 
new vessel, then carrying 44 guns, the lower battery, 
carrying eighteen pounders; and the Countess of 
Scarborough, a new tv/enty-two gun ship. On Fri- 
day, six sail was discovered about two leaugues from 
shore, in a most shattered condition* They were nc 
sooner descried^ than the armed vessels stood out tc 
sea, while the trade ships took refuge under the can- 
uon of Scarborough-castle* As there was but little 
wind, he could not come up with the enemy before 
jaight. The moon did not rise until eight, and at the 
close of day the Seradis and Countess of Searborough 
tacked and stood in for the fortress. Paul was lucky 
enough to discover this manxuvre by means of hie 
night-glass, and immediately altered his course six 
points, with a view of cutting oft" the enemy; whict^ 
was no sooner perceived by the Pallas, than it was sup» 
posed his crew had mutined, which induced her cap» 
tain to hawl his wind, and stand ©ut to sea; while the 
Alliance lay-to, to windward, at a very considerable 
distance; and, thus deserted, he was obliged to run all 
risks, and eater into action with the Richard only, to 
prevent the enemy's escape. He accordingly began 
the engagement at seven o'clock at night, within pistol 
shot of the Searapis, and sustained the brunt of it for 
nearly a whole hour at that distance, exposed, not on- 
ly to her fircj but also that of the Countess of Scarbo^ 
lough. 

In this unfortunate extremity, the Richard being in 
iiamiiient dafiger of going to the bottosn; and herguK^ 



EIFE OF JONES, ^^^^^O' 

:>eing no longer in a condition to return the enemy's 
iire, he had recourse, to a dangerous expedient, — to 
grapple with the Serapis. Thia mancKiivre succeeded 
admirably; he fastened the Serapis with his own hands, 
to the Richard; and the captain of the countess of 
Scarborough, from that moment, ctascd to hre upoR 
him. That vessel being to windward at the moment 
Paul had grappled, instantly dropped her anchor, hop- 
ing by thk to disengage himself from him; but this 
did not answer her expectation » The enemy, how- 
ever, possessed the advantage of their two batteries,, 
besides the guns on their forecasde and quarter-deck; 
while Paul's cannon were either burst or abandoned, 
excepting four pieces on the forecastle, which were 
also relinquished during some minutes. At that 
period, having no greater object to occupy his atten- 
tion, Paul himself took his post; a few sailors came to 
13 assistance, and served the two guns next to the 
-nemy with surprising courage and addrf^ss. A short 
lime after this, he received sufficient help to be able to 
remove one of the forecastle guns from the opposite 
side, so that they could only bring three to bear upor. 
the enemy during the remainder of the action. It so 
happened at this ptrriod, that the main mast of the 
Serapis, which was painted yellow, appeared exlreme°- 
ly distinct, so as to form an excellent mark; on this^. 
he pointed one of his guns at it, taking care to ram 
home the shot. In the mean time, the two other pie- 
ces were admirably served against the Serapis, and 
swept its forecastle, by means of an oblique fire. The 
tops also seconded them bravely, by means of mus- 
quetry and swivels, and threw a iTiultitude of grenades, 
so as greatly t© annoy the enemy. By these means 
they were driven from their quarters, notwithstanding 
their superiority in point of men and artillery. The" 
captain of the Serapis resolved to strike; but an un- 
lucky accident, occurred on board the Richard, pre- 
•vented this. A bullet having destroyed one of the 
^umgs the caj'penter was seized with d ganicj and loid- 



i40 LIFE Oi^JONESo 

the gunner, and another petty officer^ that the Richard 
was sinking. St>me one observed at the same tinrse, 
that both the comniodore and the lieut. were killed; 
in consequence of which, the gunner, considering him- 
self as commanding officer, ran instantly to the quar- 
ter deck, in order to havvl down the American colours, 
feuthe soon found his mistake, on seeing Paul com- 
manding at the guns. 

The captain of the Serapis, on hearing the gunner 
express his wishes to surrender, instantly addressed 
himself to- Jones, and exclaimed, ''Do you ask for 
quarter? Do you ask for ^jMirter:'" Paul was so occu- 
pied at this period, that he remained totally ignorant 
of what had occured on deck. He replied, however, ''5 
do not dream of surrendering, but am determined to 
make you strike!" On turning round, Paul perceived 
Tieutenant Grubbin the act of striking the colours, and 
seizing a pistol instantly shot him dead! This is a 
fact well knawn, although Paul has passed it oyer in 
r/ilence in his writing. It has been observed, that^ 
when Jones commenced the action, the Pallas waa 
St a great distance to windward, while the Alliance 
lay-to in the same position. When the captain of the 
former perceived that the engagement took place, he 
spoke to his consorr, but lost a great deal of time: and 
\l was not until now that they came withi-n gunshot of 
;he countess of Scarborough, and a kind of running 
Bght took place between the latter and the Pallas. Tha 
A^Uiance followed them, and, on passing the Commo- 
dore tired a broadside, which did more harm to theai 
than to the Commodore. The batde stili continued 
with uncommon ardor between the Richard and the 
Serapisj whose rigging was burned, ^nd her main 
mast cut away; while the heavier metal of the English 
drove in one cf the sides of the Richard, and met with 
little resistance. In shoit, their helm was rendered 
useless; and the poop was •nly supported by an old 
and shattered piece of timber, which alone prevented it 
hom giving way, fi.f*M a shor$ enga^eaisnJ^ ih^ 



IJ.FE OF JONES. 441; 

.:ountcsss of Scarborough surrendtrcd to the Pallas. 
IX was then that the captaiii oi the latitr asked the 
communder of the Alliance, *' Whether he would 
_tnke charge of the prize, or sail and give succour to 
the comnriodore?" Gn this the Alliance began to 
s^and backwards and forwards under her top sails, un- 
til, having got to the windward, she came down, and 
discharged a second broadside against the fore part of 
the Serapis- and the stern of the Richard. On this, 
the commodore begged for Clod's sake that they would 
cease firing, and send a few men on board of them; 
but he disobeyed, and iircd another broadside as he 
passed along. 

The idea that the Richard was sinking had taken 
such possession of the gunner and carpenter's minds, 
that they actually opened the scuttles, and made all the 
prisoners, to the number of a hundred, sally forth, m 
opposition to the commander's reiterated orders. This 
even might have proved fatal, had he not taken ad- 
vantage of their affright, to station them at the pumps^ 
where they displayed surprising zeal, appearing actu- 
aUy to forget their captivity; for there was nothing to 
prevent their going on the Serapis; or it was in their 
power to put an end to the engagement in an instant, 
i)y either killing Jones, or throwing him into the sea, 
A.S the Richard's three quarter-df-ck guris continued 
to play on the Serapis, raked her s^ern, and damaged 
her mast in si^h a manner, that it was only supported 
Irom falling by the yards of iheir own ship, while the 
teps poured in a continual discharge; th.t- fire of tlie 
Knglish began to deaden in such a manner as to be- 
leave them of all hope of ultimate s-uccess. A cir- 
cumstance, however, occurred, that contributed not a 
little to the victory of the Kichard; this was the ex- 
traordinary intrepidity rnd presence of mind of a 
Scotch sailer, posted in the main-top. This Ixrave 
fellow, of his oct'n accord, seized ajighttd match, and 
H: basket of band -grenades, with which he advanced 



*42 



LIFE OF JONES. 



above the Serapis's deck. As the flanges ot ihei/ 
parapets and shrouds, added to the light of the moon, 
enabled him to distinguish objects, the moment he 
perceived two or three persons assembled together, he 
instant discharged a hand grenade among them. At 
length, the captain of the Serapis came upon the quar- 
ter-deck, lowered his flag, and asked for quarter, at 
the very moment his main-mast had fallen into the 
oea. lie then came on board with his officers, and 
presented the commodore with his sword.— While 
this was transacting, eight or ten men belonging to the 
I^ichard, seized on the Serapis's shallop, which had 
been at anchor during the engagement, and made off. 
It was eleven o'clock when the battle ended; it had 
consequently lasted more than four hours. During 
the last three hours of the engagement both the ves- 
sels were on fire; by throwing water on the flames, it 
vas sometimes supposed that they were quenchedi but 
they always broke forth anew, and at the close of the 
action were not wholly extinguished. 

Next morning the weather was hazy, and net a 
single sail to be seen. They examined the Richard, 
to see if it were possible to carry her into any port; 
and this proving wholly impracticable, all the boats 
v;ere employed in carrying the wounded on board the 
other vessels. This occupied much of their time^ 
and on the succeeding day the vessel sunk. On this 
occasion, the commodore could only save the signal 
flags, and he lost all his property, amounting to more 
fhan 25,000 livres. The commodore now assumed 
the command of the Serapis, on which he erected jury- 
in a^ts; but the sea was so tempestuous that it was ten 
days before they reached the TexeL No sooner was 
his arrival knov/n, than forty-two vessels, forming 
different squadrons of frigates, were fitted out from 
the various ports of Great Britain against him, and 
two of these were stationed during three months at 
the mouths of the Texel and the Fly. 

On his arrival i? America Congress passed a» act; 



U^E 6F BAL\BRi©GE, i'i^ 

(|ated April 14» 1781, in wiiich he was thanked, in 
the most flattering manner, "for the zeal, the pru- 
dence, and the intrepidity, with which he sustained 
the honor of the American flag; for his bold and suc- 
cessful enterprise, with a view to redeem from captivi- 
ty the citizens of Atrierica, who had fallen into the 
hands of the English; and for the eminent services by 
which he had added lustre to hhs own character and 
the arms of America." A committee of Congress 
was also of opinion, "that he' deserved a gold medal ^n 
remembrance of his services." 



LIFE OF BxilNBllIDGE, 



William Batnbrige, was born at Princeton, New 
jersey, May 7th, 1774. His father was a respecta- 
i)Ie Physician of that place. He received his educa- 
?ion under the care of his grand-father, John Taylor,, 
»f Monmouth County: which consisted of the ordina- 
ry branches of English instruction and the French 
knguage. 

At the age of sixteen, he commenred a clerk-ship 
in a counting-house at New-York, and after a short 
service, went to sea in the employ of Miller and> Mur- 
ray. His services and conduct, were so satisfactory 
♦o them, that at the age cf eighteen, they gave him a 
»iate'sbinh in the ship Hope, in a voyage to Holland. 
During this voyage, the crew mutinied, in a gale of 
wii)d, and bad nearly succeeded in throwing the Capt. 
©verboard, when Bainbridge, hearing the alarm, took 
3 pistol, (which was however destitute of a lock,) and 
by the assistance of an Irish apprentice-boy, seized 
the ringleader, and restored order on b/)ard. At the 
i»:ge of nineteen, he had conin^and of a ship in theJbtiteh 



• 



1 ^1< hlFE OF D AiNCKiDGE 

trade^ and continued in command of various ships w 
ihe European trade until 1798. In 1796 on a voyage 
from Bourdcaux to St. Thomas, with but four smal: 
guns and nine men, he was engaged by a British 
schooner, commanded by a Sailing master, mounting 
•nine guns and manned with thirty-five men. Aftci 
killing several of her crew h« compelled her to strike, 
and as the two countries were at peace, indignantly 
cent her away to make rejiort oflm* action. 

In July 1798, and without application from him, 
lie was offered the command of the U. S. schooner 
Retaliation of fourteen guns, which he accepted under 
a I/ieute:.ant*s commission, conditioned that hs 
should stand first of that grade for prom6iion. 

In the fall of that year the Retaliation, in cruising 
to windward of Gaudaloupe, v/as captured by two 
French Frigates and a Lugger. General Desfour- 
neaux was on board of one of these Frigates on his 
passage to take command of the Island in place of 
Victor Hughes. To demonstrate a seeming friend- 
ship towards our government, arising from political 
motives as it would appear, he proposed that Bain- 
bridge should take his ship and return to the United 
States, when at ihe same time, other American ves- 
sels of much greater value, were retained and theii 
:rews treated as criminals. Perceiving the flimsey 
thread of his finesse, Bainbridge replied that he v.-ish- 
ed either to be considered a prisoner of war, or to have 
his commission restored, with liberty to cruise againsC 
the commerce of France, agreeably to instructiopis 
from his government. The General, after threatening 
to put every American to the Bv/ord, should the Re- 
taliation be found cruising against the French, order- 
ed him to proceed to the United States, with his ship 
and forty of his crew. Soon a.^ter his return, an ex' 
change was efFected; antl he again sailed on a cruise 
to the West-Indies, ia the brig Norfolk, of eighteer/ 
Runs, under the eommission of master-commandant; 
diariog whicb crahc ho compe'Isd ?. Pnvc-^-'-tr ai ch"' 



?:iIFE OF BAIlNBRIDGE. 



^m 



tttn guns to run ashore, and captured another, with 
several merchant vessels, and destroyed a number o£ 
barges. 

On his return from that cruise, he sailed in a squad- 
ron, for the protection of the United Stales* trade, to 
Cuba : and on leaving that station, was presented with 
an address, from the American merchants, concerned 
in the trade, in testimony "of the vigilance, perse- 
verance, and urbanity which had marked his conduce 
during his arduous com:nand on that station,*' and the 
** essential services which he had rendered to his 
country." 

On his return to the United States in 1 SCO, he sail- 
ed in the frigate George Washington, under a Cap- 
tain's commission, with presents to the Dey of Al- 
giers, as agreed upon by treaty. He was well re- 
ceived by the Dey, who presented him with an ele- 
gant Turkish sabre in testimony of the personal friend- 
ship which be entertained towards him, as well as the* 
pov/er which he represented. But appearances soon 
changed. Avarice being a predominant passion, he 
soon became unmindful of the treasures bestowed up- 
on him, and in a few days made a demand of ths 
George Washington, to carry his ambassador and pre- 
sents to the Grand Seignior of Constantinople, under 
a pretence of a stipulation in our treaty with him<» 
This treaty, however, related only to our merchant 
vessels, but as the Frigate was then in harbour, and 
completely in his power; and as the Dey threatened 
in case of refusal to imprison every American in Al" 
giers, he was under the necessity of complying. 

This expedition was however favourable to our 
government. The American Hag being entirely un- 
knov7n to the Grand Seignior, three Officers were 
sent in succession, to inquire what ship it was, and 
what flag she bore — thej knew nut what was roeanC 
by an •American Frigate, and it was not until Capto 
Bainbridge explained that America was the ]New 
13 



146 



LIFE OF BAINBRfDGE. 



World, that they had any conception of the country. 
The Messengers from the Dey were ordered on board 
the Capudan Pacha, (or Turkish High Admiral's 
ship,) who tors the letters, spat and stamped upon 
them, and rejected the presejots with indignation. The 
Bey was ordered to declare war against France within 
sixty days. At the same time Com, Bainbridge was 
received with marked attention. The Algerine flag, 
^vhich he had been compelled to carry at his mizen, 
was ordered to be hauled down, the American shifted 
to its place, and Com. Bainbridge rewarded with pre- 
sents. 

1 ne excellent order of his ship, and fine healthy 
appearance of his crew, seemed to be a convincing 
proof in the mind of the Seignior, that the "new 
ivorld'^ which he represented must be already great 
and powerful. 

In December, the George Washington sailed for 
Algiers, with the ambassador's secretary to give an 
account of the unfortunate result of his embassy.; 
where he arrived on the 21st Jan. having touched at 
Malta to land some Turks, as a favour to the Capudaji 
Pacha. Finding that Captain Bainbridge was in fa- 
vour with the Turkish Admiral, (who was related to 
the Grand Seignior by marriage,) and learning like- 
wise the order of the Grand Seignior, the tyrant was 
so effectually hunabled, that he released four hundred 
•prisoners, and declared war against France. The 
consul and other French sobjf^cts then in port, were 
received on board the George V/ashington ; and after 
landing them in AiicaDt, Capt. Bainbridge arrived £t 
Philadelphia, April 1801, receiving from his govern- 
ment the highest approbation for his conduct during 
this delicate service. 

In June following he again sailed to the Mediterra- 
nean in the Essex, where he was employed in protect- 
ing American and other neutral ships, against Tripo 
litan cruisers, and from whence he returned to JNV. 
:i^yrk in July, 1802. 



LIFE OF BAINBRIDGE. 



i4r 



Fn July 1803, he sailed in the Frigate Philadelphia^ 
to join Co'.n. Preble's squadron in the Mediterraneanv 
Oflf Cape de Gait, he tell in with and captured the 
Mirbohar of 23 guns and 110 men, from Morocco, 
and re-took an American Brig, seized by her a short 
time previous. On board the Mirbohar they found 
orders by which it appeared that the Emperor of Mo- 
rocco was about commencing depredations upon Ame- 
rican commerce. The capture of this ship put an end 
to hostilities, and a permanent peace was established. 

In company with the Vixen, Capt, Bainbridge then 
proceeded to blockade the harbour of Tripoli, and on 
the 31st Oct. seeing a strange ship, gave chase to her, 
and when within tour miles and an half of the harbour, 
unfortunately ran upon a pile of rocks; which, as it 
appeared were not laid down on our charts. This was. 
indeed a dilemma, not foreseen, and which could not 
be overcome. Guns were thrown overboard, water 
started and the fore-mast cut away, but all to no pur- 
pose. The enemy's Gun-Boats immediately com- 
menced an attack, which was sustained six hours, 
when she turned so far upon her side, that the guns- 
could not be brought to bear; '^and Capt. Bainbridge 
was under the necessity of surrendering, but not until 
he had first thrown overboard every article of value, 
drowned the magazine and scuttled the ship. I'he 
officers and crew were then seized by the Algerines, 
stripped without ceremony of whatever was found up^ 
on them valuable, and conveyed by the boats on shorcj 
and from thence to the Pacha's Castle. 

The treatment which they received, was far more 
-mid than they had reason to anticipate. After th^ 
burning of the Philadelphia by Decatur, on 16th Feb. 
1804, they were closely confined, not so much with a 
vkw to make them suffer, as through fear of their es- 
cape. 

The bombardment of the town — the burning of thft 
Philadelphia — the explosion of the fire-ship, and thfi 
various attacks made upon the town, all passed within 



il;4S UFIS. OP BA2NBRIDGE: 

their view ; and at one time, a twenty four pound snot 
passed within a few inchesofiBainbridge's hegd ; still 
they were compelled, to, remain, inactive witnesses to 
the efForts-of their, countrymen.. 

At length a treaty, was concluded' by Col. Lear, and 
ahe sum of sixty thousand dollars having been paid to 
ahe Pa^h«, the oncers and; seamen were liberated, 
June Sd 1805, after nineteen months confinement, and 
embarked on board the squadron. Soon after Coa)^ 
Sainbridge returned to the United States. 

After various commands in the peace establishment, 
at the declaration of war with Great Britain in 181S, 
be %vas ordered to the command of the Constellation, 
;md from thence to the Constitution. In company 
with the Sloop of War Hornet, he set «ail on a cruise 
to the East Indies, and having parted with her run- 
ning down the coast of Brazil, fell in with the British 
Frigate Java, a new ship, carrying 49 guns, and up- 
^vards of four hundred men. She had on board more 
than one hundred supernumerary ofllcers and seamen., 
(destined for the East India service. The action con- 
tinued one hour and (ifty-five minutes, when the Java 
was left a mere wreck, with not a spar standing. The 
commanding officer, Capt. Lambert, was mortally 
•wounded. It being found impossible to get her to the 
XJnited States, the prisoners and baggage were taken 
out, and the ship blown up. Her loss in killed, was 
60, and between one^and two hundred wounded. Nine 
were killed on board the Constitution, nnd twenty-five 
Jivounded, and among the latter was the Commodore^ 

The victory was brilliant, and in the highest degree 
lionourable to Com. Bainbridge ; but not more so ihao 
the kindness and courtesy, which he manifested to- 
wards the prisoners while under his charge : and as a 
characteristic of our Naval commanders generally, we 
are proud to add, that they have given ample testimo- 
ny that they are as ** gentle in peace," as " dauntless 
m war." Having conquered, the expectations of their 
country are answered j and they no longer consider th^ 



LIFE OF PORTER, 



149 



conquered enemy a foe. The Constitution being in str 
decayed state, the Com. was induced to abandon the 
contemplated cruise, and return to the United States. 
He was soon after appointed to the command of the 
Eastern Station, and to the superintendance ot build- 
ing the seventy-four at Charlestown. He has been 
up the Mediterranean, in command of the Columbus 
74 gun-ship, and ha* since filled responsible stations, 
with a reputation still unsullied. America is proud 
to enroll him among the first of her sons. 



LIFE OF PORTER 



David Porteb, was born at Boston, Feb. Ist, 
1780. His father was an officer in the Navy, during 
the Revolutionary War, and was distinguished by his 
courage and daring spirit. 

The first vogage undertaken by the subject of this 
sketch, was in a -trading vessel, commanded by his 
father, to St. Domingo. Whilst at the port of Jeremiea 
in that island, a press-gang attempted to board and 
were gallantly repelled, with the less of several killed, 
on both sides. Young Porter, who was then but six- 
teen, had his share in the engagement. One man was 
shot down by his side, and the affair reflected much 
praise upon the Capt-ain, and his crew. In his second 
voyage, he was twice impressed by the British, bat 
effected his escape; and returned home, in the winter 
season, in a suffering condition, for want of clothing. 

Soon after this, he entered the United States Navy, 
s^s Midshipman; sailed in ths Constellation with 
Com. Truxton, and in the action with the French Fri- 
gate Insurgente, distinguished himself, by the gallan- 
try of his conduct. When advanced to the rank o£ 
Lieutenant, it was by dint of merit, having no friends 
^0- bring hiia into notice, Joining ths 17. S, Sehofiues' 



i 5# LIFE OF PORTER. 

Experimeftt, commanded by Capt. Maly, they pro-^ 
ceeded on a cruise to the West Indies, fell in with ia- 
number of Brigand barges, when he was again brougliC 
ante honourable notice. He was likewise employed in 
boats, cutting out vessels, where he greatly distin- 
guished hinxsclf by good judgment and personal 
prowess. 

Whilst on that station tie took charge of a small 
Pilot-boat, mounting five small swivels, taken from 
{he tops of the Constellation. 

Fallmg in with a French Privateer, mounting a 
Song twelve pounJer, with several swivels, and having 
forty men he determined to engage her. The contesS 
was for some cime doubtful, but the Privateer at length 
feurrendered, having lost seven killed, and fifteen, 
wounded. Porter had several killed, but none wound" 
(cd. A prize vyhi<:h the Privateer had. in company, 
%vas likewise taken. His conduct on this occasion 
Hvas , highly spoken of by his commander. In his 
second expedition to the West Indies, with Capt. 
Charles Stewarif they were likewise successful in ope- 
rating against the Privateers. 

In the first squadron to the Mediterranean, Porter 
was first Lieutenant of the Enterprise, Capt. Stewart^ 
sind rendered himself vevy conspicuous, in an engage^ 
went with aXripolitan Corsair, of much greater force^ 
which, in the event, was compelled to surrender. 

On another occasion, with an expedition of boats^ 
hs entered the harbour of Tripoh, to destroy a num- 
ber of vessels laden with wheat, which service was 
performed efTectuaHyi but in the engagement, he re- 
ceived a ball through his thigh; 

Nothing of consequence occurred after he received 
Hs wound, until the 31st Oct. 1803. Porter had 
l>een previously' transferred to the Frigate Philadel- 
phia, as first iaeutenant under Capt. Baiobridge ; and 
was on board when she ran aground, at that date* near 
ftbe harbour of' Tripoli I was taken possession of by 
^g enemy J and Jh^ crew made prisocers. It will be 



LIFE OF PORTER 



152 



unnecessary to detail the particulars of that disastrous 
aiTnr, as the facts are generally so well known. It is 
sufficient to add, that during a long and dreary con- 
finemtnt, he never suffered himself to sink into de- 
spondency, but applied himself closely to his study ; 
thus preparing the way to become a still more useiul 
niember of his country and of society. A ireaty of 
peace having at length been concluded with Tripoli, 
the officers and crew of the Philadelphia were set at 
liberty, and sailed to join the squadron at Syracuse* 
Porter having been appointed to the command of the 
U. S. Brig Enterprise, proceeded, to cruise in the 
Mediterraneani 

Passing the streights of Gibraltar, he was attacked 
by twelve Spanish Gun- Boats, pretending to suppose 
she was a British Brig. Although their weight ok 
metal was vastly superior, he soon compelled them to 
sheer ofirV 

After an arduous service of five years, he returned 
to the United States, was married to Miss Anderson 
of Pennsylvania; and afterwards took command of 
the Flotilla on the New Orleans station, where he 
rendered impo-rtant services in enforcing the embargo 
and non-intercourse laws» In this service he likewise 
ferretted out, and captured a French Piratical schoon- 
er, which had so long infested the Chesapeake, as to 
attract the attention of Government. 

At the declaration of War, with Great Britain, in 
1812, he sailed from New York, in command of the 
Essex, fell in with, and after a short engagement, cap= 
tured the British Sloop of War Alert, Capt. Laug° 
barne. 

Returning to the United States, to refit, he again 
put to sea Oct. :^ih, 1812, and proceeded to thecoasJ; 
of Brazil, agreeably to instructions from Con . Bain- 
bridge, where places for rendezvous had been agreed 
upon betM'een them. On that Coast he ftJl in with 
bis majesty's Packet Nocton, out of whi h he took 
2ll^OQO,.8t€Tling in speck, About.this.time he heard 



im 



LIFE •{" PORTEK, 



of the capture of the Java, by Com. Bainbridge, and* 
of his return t6 the U. S. 5 likewise that the Hornet 
had been taken by the Montague, and that the British 
force on that coast wa& considerably increase d, and 
were in pursuit of him. He thtrefore abandoned his 
ground, and ran down as far as liio de La Plata ; from 
thence to the Pacific Ocean, and reached Valparaiso, 
March I4th, 1813. Sailing from thence down the 
coast of Chili, and Peru, he brought too a Peruvian 
corsair, and found on board twenty -four Americans 
held as prisoners, whom he liberated throwing her 
guns and ammunition into the sea. He continued 
cruising for several months in the Pacific, capturing 
great numbers of British vessels. Two were given to 
the prisoners ; three sent to Vylparaiso, and three to 
America. Most of the ships taken mounted several 
guns. He therefore equipped one with twenty guns, 
and-gave thecnnunand to Lieutenant Downes, calling 
her the Ess;: x, jr. 

T\w numerous prizes taken, furnished him abun» 
dantly with provisions, clothing, and naval stores? so 
that, without inconvenience, he was enabled to keep at 
seni for a long time. From the spoils of his enemy he 
had now under his command a Ihtle squadron, which 
spread devastation, and became the terror of those 
seas. Merchants not only in the ports of the Pacific, 
but in Great Britain, groaned under the weight of 
losses ; everv arrival bringing a catalogue of captures. 
AIthouj>h ships were sent after him into the Pacific, 
the China Seas, o^ New-Tsmor, New-Holland and 
the river La Plata; still the manner in which ho 
cruised, completely eluded their vigilance. Shunning 
the American coast, he was either lying among the 
desolate groups which form the Gallipagos islands, 
or in the open seas. At length, Lieut. Downes re- 
turned from Valparaiso, whither he had sailed to 
convoy the prizes, and brought intelligence, that 
Com. Hiliyer was expected at that place with the Fri- 
^te Phosbe, oi 36 guos, aoU two Sloops of War. B^ 



LIFE or FOliTER, 



10S; 



had become glutted with spoils, and th-e easy captures 
o-f Merchantmen were not calculated to raise him to 
that zenith of fame, after which he aspired. As an 
opportunity now appeared to present, in v/hich it was 
probable he might meet the enemy on equal terms, he 
determined to embrace it; and after running into the 
Island of Nooaheeva, to repair, proceeded to Valpa» 
raiso. While here^ at anchor. Com. Hillyer arrived, 
btit contrary to anticipation, with a Frigate superior 
in size to his, and accompanied b) the Cherub, Sloop 
of War, both fitted out with picked crews, expressly 
for this enterprise. Their force amounted to 81 guns, 
and 500 men, whh the crew of a Letter of Marque, 
1 hat of the Essex of 46 guns, and 255 men. The 
Essex Jun. being designed for a store ship, mounted 
ten 18 pound carronades, and ten short sixes, v.ith buS 
SO men. 

This disparity of force would not permit the veoturs 
©fa general action. He therefore endeavored to pro- 
voke a challenge from.ihe Phoebe, although vastly su- 
perior to the Essex^ but without effect. P'earing an 
addition would be made to their force, he wished if 
possible to make his escape. 

On the 28th March, a gale came on, and the Es- 
sex parting her cable, the Com. thought that a niore 
f^avourable opportunity would not occur, to pass the 
enemy, and sail was therefore ordered to be immedi- 
ately made. On- clearing the harbour, a sudden squal! 
carried av;ay the main-top-mast, and finding it impos- 
sible to return, he ran into a bay at some distance 
fiom his former anchorage, expecting that the enemy 
>vouid respect the neutrality of the port, but in this he 
was disappoiutedo Both ships now dnw rp, and com- 
menced an attack upon the Essex. Capt. Porter 
succeeded three different times in getting springs upon 
his cables, but they were as often shot away, leaving 
him exposed to a raking fire from the enemy. In diis 
situation, his chief dependance was upon three long 
t\veh'es from her stern, which were managed socles:.' 



^54< HFE OF POUTERS. 

terously that the enem) were obliged to hall off, ar.d-' 
repair. His crew were not, however, disheartened, 
although morally certain ot being conquered. 

The conflict was sustained with unabated fury, ui> 
til resistance was ineffectual, when the fittg was struck, 
and the ship resigned to an overwhelming force. Ou-t 
of 255 men, 58 vvere killed, CQ wounded, and 31 
missing; making in ail 154. The spectacle was truly 
horrid; and when the officer came on board, to take 
possession, he turned from the spectacle, as if sicken- 
ed at its sight. 

It was with difficulty that either the Essex or Ph:3- 
be, could be got into the liarbourof St. Salvador, both 
being very much injured, the latter having 18 shots in 
the hull, and some of them three feet under water. 

Capt. Poiter and His crew were soon after paroled, 
and returned to New York. On landing, a carriage 
was provided for him, and drawn by the populace, to ■ 
Lis lodgings, with shouts and acclamations. 

The mere loss of the Essex, could hardly be con- 
sidered unfortunate, as she bad done more injury to 
the ene^y^s commerce than the rest of the Navy to- 
gether. 

Since the close of the war, Captain Porter has been 
in various commands, he has been one of the Navy 
Gommissioners, and is at this time, in command ^ 
the Squadron among the West India Islands, to suj 
press the pirates, and enjoys alike the confidence c 
Governrasntj and the love of his Country. 



LIFE OF Li WHENCE. 



James Lawrence, was born at Burlington New 
Jersey, October Ist, 1781. His father, John Law- 
rence. Esq. was an eminc-nt counsellor at hivv of the 
same place. By the death of his mother he was left 
in infancy in the charge of his sisters. Affectionate 
in disposition and ardent in his attachments, he ever 
entertained towards them the warmest gratitude, for 
their tenderness and care sn his early youth. He en- 
tered as midshipman in the service of his country, at 
about the age of sixteen, where his strict attention to 
tlie discharge of his duties, and his endearing manners 
gained him the esteem of both officers and seamen. 

At the declaration of war with Tripoli, he was 
piomotcd to a Lieutenancy, and volunteered his ser- 
vices as first Lieut, under Decatur in destroying the 
irrigate Philadeldhia, one of the most brilliant and 
gallant enterprises ever undertaken and executed by 
man. 

After continuing in the Mediterranean three and a 
half years, he returned to the U. S, and was .Mgain 
sent on that station, in command of Gun Boat No. 6, 
where he remained sixteen months. After that time, 
he commanded the Vixen, Wasp, Argus arid Horneto 
At the commencement of the war in 1812, he sailed 
in the Hornet Sloop of War, under Commodore 
Rodgers. His second cruise in the Hornet was in 
company with Com. Bainbridge, who commanded the 
Constitution. While coasting off the Brazils, he fell 
in with the Bonne Ciioyenne, a British ship of war, 
and chased her into St. Salvador. Notwithstanding 
she was of superior force, Lawrence sent her a chal- 
lenge, which was refused, although he pledged hrs 
honour that no other American vessel should inter- 
fere. 

Leaving St. Salvador, on the morning of Feb. 24th^ 
jsT Demarara, he fell in with the British Brig Pea- 
xock, Capt. Peake, of equal force. The contest xoni'' 



156 %\¥F. 05^ LAWRENCE. 

menced within half pistol shot, and in fifteen minutes 
the Peacock hoisted signals of distress, being in £ 
sinking condition from the fire ot the Hornt-t. Eve- 
ry exertion was made to keep her afloat until the pri- 
soners could be removed, but notwithstanding she 
went down with thirteen of her crew, and three Ame- 
rican tars, who nobly perisht- d i i relieving a conquer" 
ed foe. Among the slain, was Capt. Peake. He re- 
ceived two wounds: ihe last proving mortal. He was 
laid in the cabin, and with his icig for a shroud, and 
ship for a sepulchre, this brave sailor sunk to rest; an 
interment worthy of so brave a man. 

The treatment of Lawrence towards his prisoners 
was such as to draw from the ofRccrs the expression, 
that *^ they ceased to consider themselves prisoners." 
"Finding that the crew had lost all their clothing, to the 
honour of our tars, a subscription wiis made, and each 
man supplied from his own wardrobe two shirts, a 
bluejacket and trovvsers. 

Capt. Lawrence was received with great applause 
on his return to this courjtry, having in the interim 
been promoted to the rank of Post Captain. Soon 
after his return he was appointed to the command of 
the Frigate Constitution; but the next day to his 
>3;reat chagrin, the order was countermanded, with di- 
rections to take the Chesapeake then lying at Boston. 
This ship was considered the worst in the Navy, and 
the circumstance of her having been disgraced in the 
affair of the Leopard, acquired for h«r, among sailors 
the reputation of being an unlucky ship; so much so, 
that it was with difficulty crews could be recruited for 
her. 

Four successive letters were written by Lawrence 
to the Secretary of the Navy, requesting to be con- 
tinued in the command of the Hornet, but receiving 
no answer, he v;as under the necessity of complying 
with the order. 

Being nearly ready for sea at Boston, the British 
Frigme Shannon j Capt, Broke Commander, appear- 



LIKE OF LAWJaENCE, ^^J 

-r.i off the harbour, hoisting signals expressive of a 
t hallenge. The Shannon was one of the best ships 
in the British Navy, e<3uipped in the best manner, 
and manot-d with a picked crew for the express pur- 
pose of fighting our largest Frigates. The Chesa- 
peake was not only an indifferent ship, but manned 
Diostly by Rew recruits. 

Lawrence however determined to accept the clial- 
lenge, although sensil/le of the disparity under which 
he laboured. - lis had formerly challenged the Bonne 
Citoyenno, and should he now decline, it might occa- 
sion public remarks to his discredit. To his crew be 
was a stranger, and even in the midft of the customa- 
ry harangue previous to the engsgement, murmurs of 
•dissatisfaction were heard from them. A Portuguese 
replied to Capt. Lawrence, complaining that they had 
ijot receive their prize money. 

It was a critical monjent, and the Captain there/ore 
thought it advisable to order the purser to give them 
checks. Under theee. embarrassing circumstances the 
action was feoght, June 1, 181 So 

The vessels manoeuvred until within pistol shot^ 
when both at about the same instant opened their 
broadsides. The Chesapeake had the advantage, un- 
til unfortunately by the death of three men, shot from. 
'the helm, successively, the vessel lost her way and 
caughi by the anchor, in one of the Shannon's after 
ports. In this srituation the enemy's guns were brought 
-'into a raking position, killing or wounding the great- 
er part ot the crew. Capt. Lawrence had at this time 
received a mortal wound, and although destruction 
appeared inevitable, exclaimed, '^douH give uji the 
ship" The enemy soon after boarded and the strife 
-was at an end. Lawrence languished in great bodily 
Jpain for four davs, and expired. He was wrapped in 
•the flag of the Chesapeake, and conveyed to Halifax 
.f)n board the Shannon. At his interment the British 
•ufEcers crowded to yield the last sad honours to bina 
VH'ho so bravtly fought, and who new no longer wus. 



dSB 



LIFE OF M'BONOUGIT. 



their foe. By order of government^ a vessel was soou 
after dispatched to Halifax, in which his remains 
were convcyd to his native state, and deposited with 
his fathers. 

Deeply as maybe regretted the fate of the engage- 
ment, we have no cause to lament, as nothing of ho° 
nour was lost in the conflict. The name of Lawrenco 
with his worthy associates who fell on that eventful 
-.dssy^ is immortalized in the records of fame. 



LIFE OF MACDONOUGHe 

THE father of Capt. Thomas Macdonough, resi* 
ded in the county of New-Castle, Delaware, on a farm 
called the Trapp. He was conspicuously eminent in 
the practice of Physic, and in the year 1775, was ap- 
pointed Mi^^Y in Col. John Hasletfs Regiment, rais- 
ed b# the State af Delaware, but did not long con- 
tinue in the servise. After the close of the revolu- 
tionary struggle, he received the appointment of Judge 
which office he held until 1796, at which time he 
died. His eldest son, James, was with Com. Trux- 
ton in the engagement between the Constellation and 
Insurgente; at which time he lost his leg and which 
rendered it necessary for him to retire from service. 

Thomas Macdonough, the subject of the present 
sljetch, entered the United States' service, under a 
IMidshipman's warrant, not long after the death of his 
father. After serving some time in our Navy, he 
sailed with the little licet up the Mediterranean, where 
he (with other young officers,) rendered himself con- 
spicuoy'j in the wars with Tripoli. 

He v:?,% reaiarkable for his gravity and circumspec- 



LIFE OF M'D0NOUGH. 



1B9 



don, and at the same time evinced a dauntless invin* 
cibility of spirit, which was not to be counteractedj, 
even by Mahometan prowess. 

The following incident displays his firmness and 
decision of character. A merchant's Brig, came into 
port, whilst Gapt. Smith was on shore, and anchored 
ahead of the Syren. A short time after, a British 
Frigate, then lying in port, sent a boat on board the 
Brig and came off with one man more than she went 
with. Macdonough le.arning that they had impressed 
an American, overtook her with an armed gig, and 
rescued the man, along- sid6 of the Frigate. The 
Englishman, after threatening to take the man by force 
says, **you are a very indiscreet young man, what 
would you have done if I had been in the boat?" *^I 
would have taken the man, or lost my life.'* ''Whar, 
Sir, would you attempt to stop «ie, were I nov/ to un- 
dertake 10 impress men from that Brig?" ' *'To con- 
vince you I would, you have only to make the at- 
tempt.'* Soon after, seeing the Englishman bearing 
down for the Brig, Macdonough manned, and got in- 
to his boat, in readiness for pursuit. I'he English- 
man, after sailing around the Brig, returned again to' 
his Frigate. 

Syracuse, once the seat of all those virtues which 
adorn the human mind and render men good and 
great, is now unhappily one of the most vicious and 
depraved on earthj robberies and assassinations are 
considered as mere pastime. While at this place., 
Macdonough was detained on shore one night, till the 
ship's boat had returned to the Fleet, He then hired 
a boat, but finding three men, instead of two, (the 
usual complement,) going in it, he suspected them of 
some evil design and refused to go, whereupon thev 
drew their poniards and attacked him. By spirited 
exertions he succeeded in wounding two, while the 
other took to his heels. Macdonough pursued him 
to the roof of the Barracks, from whence he ihrcv/ 
himself, with the loss of his life. 



.i &0 LrFE OF M'DONOUGH. 

No incident of consequence occurred in tnjs Wtt ut 
aVIacdjRough betvveen the Tripolitan war, and that 
which commenced with Great Britain in 1812. lie 
was then appointed to the commaud of a small Naval 
fo.rce on Lake Ghamplain, for the purpose protecting 
our frontiers. 

This w^as considered an irrrportant point of defence, 
as there v/as reason to suppose that if the enemy had 
been successful in the affair at Baltimore, an attack 
would have been undertaken upon New York, by the 
fleet then on our coast, and on Albany by the Noi^ 
thern Army« 

Thus stood affairs, when Sir George Prevost, with 
14,000 men, took up his march, intending to dislodge 
Gen. Macomb from his post, at Pittsburgh. Cap^o 
Downie, commanding the British Squadron, was or- 
derrid at the same tirAe to attack the American force, 
ivhich was believed to be of consequence in their plaii 
of operations. 

Macdonough was apprised of their intentions, anJ 
tlecided to receive them at anchor. On the 11th of 
Sept. ISl^, the enemy anchored in line, 300 yards 
from the American. The action commenced at nin^ 
A. ivi. and after a hard fought battle, the enemy's 
ship Brig, and both sloops struck: — Three Gallies 
were sunk, and the remaining ten made off in a shat- 
tered condition. The loss of the Americans was 52 
killed, and 58 wounded: that of the British 84 kill- 
ed, and 110 wounded. 

Immediately after the action commenced, a game 
cock on board, flew up the fore-hatchway, lighted on 
the bell, and crowed with all his might, until the bell 
was struck by a shot and knocked in pieces, lie 
then flew into the rigE;ing, and continued crowing until 
the action ceased. Many of the seamen considered 
it as a prelude to victory. 

A precipitate retreat was made by the British arnw 
leaving our troops in quiet possession of the country 
\7hich they had vainly essayed to conquer. The tv;o 



EWE OP.M'DONOUGIL i6i 

contending armies and thousands of spectators^ ^vere 
2n full view of the engagement, awaiting «^ith breath- 
less anxiety, the issue of the battle. The occasion was 
pregnant with importance, it was to decide, whether 
the inhabitants should be driven from their houses in 
beggary, or remain in peaceable possession of their 
fire-sides. The result was all that couid be desired 
or expected. 

Prevost made a precipitate retreat — The American 
Eagle rode triumphant, and the country was restored 
to tranquility. 

In consequence of this achievement, the thanks of 
Congress with appropriate medals, vvt-re presented to 
Com. Macdonough, with medals and swords to the- 
under officers, and three months' extra pa), to the pet- 
ty officers, seamen and marines. The State of New 
York granted him 1000 acres of land, and the State of 
Connecticut, a brace of pistols, not only in testimony 
of his brilliant achievement on the Lake, but for thq 
exalted opinion entertained of his private character. 

The numerous, and flattering demonstrations of res ^ 
pect, which the gallant and accomplished Macdonough 
has received from Congress, the State- Legislatures 
and Corporations, are known to most readers. No 
one could hardly be more gratifving, than the presen- 
tation of a splendid sword from the Lcgislatnre of 
New- York, which was delivered in the city of Hart- 
ford, Conn, Bat the present of a sword from the offi- 
cers and seamen whom he commanded in the Medi- 
terranean^ was the most unequivocal evidence of res- 
pect that can be conceivedo It speaks volumes of eu- 
logy. The expense of it was SlSOO, but its pecunia-' 
Ti^ value is forgotten, when it is looked upon as a to- 
ken of respect. 

The arrest of Com. Dacdonough by Com. Stewart, 
produced great excitement. But the correctness oi 
the procedure was acknowledged by the ingenuoaa 
Macdonough; and he v/as appointed to the commaacT^ 
i5f the OhiOj74, which command he now sustains. 



LIFE OF DECATUR. 

The grandfather of Corrs. Stephen Decatur was or- 
jginally from Rochelle in France, and married a lady 
of New;port, R. I. His father, Stephen Decatur, was 
born in Newport, but removed from thence to Phila- 
delphia, where he married an Irish lady by the name of 
Pine. He was bred to sea in the merchant service^ 
and was afterwards appointed to the command of the 
Delaware sloop of war,* then of the frigate Philadel- 
phia, where he remained until peace took place with 
France, when he resigned his commission, retired to 
bis residence Dear Philadelphia, where he died in 
1808. 

His son Stephen, the subject of this sketch, was boni 
on the Eastern shore of Maryland, Jan. 5th, 1779^ 
whilst the British had possession of Philadelphia. Af- 
ter the city was evacuated, they returned to their for- 
stier residence, where Decatur received his early edu- 
.gation. 

In March, 1798, he entered the navy as a midship- 
XYian, joined the frigate Unitt-d States, ur>der Como 
Barry, where he remained until promoted to alieuten° 
ancy. 

He then entered the brig Norfolk as first lieutenant?- 
perlormed a cruise to the Spanish Maine, and on his 
return to port, resumed his station on board the Uni- 
ted States, she having undergone repairs, where he 
continued until peace was concluded with France. 

He then sailed in Com. Dale's squadron up the 
IVIediterranean, as first lieutenant of the Essex. Re^ 
turning with that squadron, he was ordered to the 
New York, in the second Mediterranean expedition, 
in the squadron commanded by Com. Morris. Re« 
burning to the United States, he again sailed in corn- 
nrjand of the Argus, joined Com. Preble's squadron in 
the Mediterranean, and agreeably to orders, resigned 
command to lieutenant Hull, aodtook the schooner 
jEnterpriz€. He then proceeded io Syracuse, the ren,- 
icz7ou3 of the sauadrouj aod jherc k^rnt thatih^i^' 



LIFE OF DECATLM. 



mii 



iVi'gate Philadelphia had run aground on the Barbary 
Goast, and was ia the possession, of the Tripolitans. 

On Com. Preble's arrival a few days alter, Deca- 
tur suggested to him a plan for recapturing or destroy- 
ing the frigate. The enrerprize was- frar.ght wuh peril, 
and of such a desperate and daring nature that the 
commodore's consent was obtained with the greatest 
reluctance. 

Decatur selected for the expedition the ketch In- 
irepid, which he had captured but a short time pre\i- 
ous from the enemy, manning htr with seventy vo- 
lunteers, and sailed Feb. Sd, 1804- The brig Syren, 
Lieut. Stewart, accompanied him to aid in the enter- 
prize, should it be found necessary. 

After fifteen days tempestuous weather, he arrived 
at the mouth of the harbour at about sunset. It had 
been agretd that the ketch, with the Syren's boats, 
should enter the harbour at about 10 o'clock that nighu 
but as the Syren had been driven several miles from 
her course by change of wind, Decatur apprehended it 
might be too late for the attack that night should be 
wait for the boats: he therefore determined to enter the 
harbour alone; which he did at about 8 o'clock. Tlie 
boldness of the undertaking may be conceived of from 
the following description. 

The frigate hiy directly under the Bashaw's castle, 
and within half gun shot of his principal bittt^ries. 
Two of their cruisers were stationed on the starboard 
quarter, their gun boats on the larboard how, and all 
the guns of the frigate mounted and loaded. 

They had but three miles to sail from the entrance 
of the harbour, but from the lightness of wind did not 
get within hail until 11 o'clock. They were then I:ail- 
vid and ordereti to anchor, or they would be firrd upon. 
A Maltese pilot onboard was ordered to answer that 
they had lost their anchors^, and could not. Whea 
within 50 yards of the frigate, the wind subsided er> 
tirely, and Decatur ordered his boat to m^ike fast t3 
^,e frigate's fore ch^ins^ Thia being, donr, wilhoiit,. 



iM 



OFfr OF DECATUr;. 



any suspicion en the part of the enemy, the ketch waz 
warped alongside, and Decatur, with midshipman 
Monisj (now captain,) mounted her deck. It was 
nearly two minutes before any of the ketch's crew ap- 
peared on deck to their assistance, the Turks standing 
astonished and aghast, without resistance. So soon 
as a sufficient number gained the deck to form a front, 
they commenced the assault, killing twenty on the spot.^ 
otKers jumped overboard, and the remainder were 
driven into the hold. 

The enemy soon began firing from the batteries, 
and from the castle and tw^o corsairs^and perceiving :i 
number of launches rowing about the harbour, Deca- 
tur ordered the ship to be set on fire in different places, 
and sc effectually and-^fiih such promptness was the 
order cxtcuted, that it was with great difficulty the 
ketch could be saved. Providentially at this critical 
moment^ a breeze took them, blowing directly out oF 
the harbour, carrying then) from the enemy's reach in 
a few minutes, v;ith the loss of but one killed and four 
wounded. 

For this achievement, Decatur was promoted to the 
rank of post captain. 

In the ensuing spring. Com. Preble made an attack 
upon Tripoli, with his squadron, consisting of the 
Gonstiiuiion, Syren, Nautilus, Vixen, six gun boats, 
and two bombards* The attack commenced at 9 
o'clock, August Sc\, The gun boats advanced in a line 
ahe-ad, led on by C ipt. Decatur, covered by the frigate 
Constitution, and the brigs and schooners. The ene- 
my's gun boats were moored within musket shot ef 
the batteries. Their sails had been taken from them, 
and they were ordered to ^ink rather than alter their 
position. They were likewise covered by a brig of 
IQ and a schooner of 10 guns. The enemy's boats, as 
also the American, had 40 men erch. Decatur drevv 
up with all posoible dispatch, boarded a gun boat, and 
m 10 minutes cleared the deck; three Americans only 
lyere wounded^ Conning out with his prize, the feo?^- 



LIFE OF DEC.\TUKi ^^^ 

larhich his brother, Lieut. James Decatur commanded, 
came under his st«rin, and informed that he had been 
treacherously shot by the commander of the boat he 
had taken. He immediately tacked^ came alongside 
ot the Turkish boat, and with but eleven men^ instant- 
ly boarded her. For 20 minutes the fate of the 
contest was doubtful — seven of the Americans were 
wounded. Decatur singled out the commander, and 
broke his sword by the hilt in attempting to cut off his 
espontocn. The Turk at this moment wounded him 
in the arm and head. They closed; Decatur fell up- 
permost — the Turk drew his dagger — Decatur seized 
his arm, drew a pistol from his pocket and shot binS'^ 
Decatur could then with difficulty extricate himself 
from the dead and wouaded which had fallen oft him 
during the struggle. A noble hearted tar seeing a 
deadly blow aimed at Decatur's head, and having lost 
the use of his arms by wounds, rushed between, and 
received the blow on his own head. His. scull was 
fractured, but happily he survived to receive a pension 
from governmcnta Decatur succteded i^n reaching 
tlie squadron with both prizes. At the conclusion of 
peace, he came home in the Congress — afterwards was 
snperintendant of gun boats, and at the affair of the 
Cheseipeake, superceded Com. Barron, and was put in 
command of the souihern squadron. When the 
Uintev. States, was agaui put in comnsissipn, he was 
removed to that frigate. 

In the late, war with Great Britain, and on the 25th 
Oct. 1812. he fell in with and captured the British 
frigate Macedonian, Capt. J. S, Garden, mounting 49 
guns — 36 killed, and 68 wounded. l"ne UuUcd 
States had 4 killed, and 7 wounded. The Muced.o- 
niifti was a prime ship, manned and equipped in the 
best manner, and but two years old. 

On the unhappy controversy between Com. Deca- 
tur and Com, Barron, which terminated in the death 
of the former, we forbear to comment. Our readers 
'4A!e re.^er.red to the correspondence which passed be- 



LIFE OF PIKE. 



tween them, and from which they will gather a fuJl^ 
view of the subject. Suffice it to say, that in his death, 
our navy is deprived of one of its bravest and most 
tfficient ofEcers, and society of an accomplished and 
imeiiigent gentleman. 



LIFE OF PIKE. 



Zebulon Montgomeby Pike, was born at Lamo 
berton in the state of New- Jersey, January 5th l'?79. 
His father was a respectable ofScer in ihe army of the 
United States. His family had for styeral genera- 
dons resWed in New Jersey, and were descended 
from a Captain John Pike, whose name is preserved 
by tradition as having been a gallant and distinguish- 
ed soldier in the early Indian wars ot the colony. 
He enteied the army v/hile yet a boy, and served for 
some time as a cadet in his father's company, which 
vvas then stationed on the western fronuers of the 
United States. At an early age he obtained the com- 
mission of ens'gu, and some time after that oi' Lieu- 
tenant in the Ist regiment of infantry. He was thus 
alajost from his cradle, trained to tb» habits of a mil- 
itar\' life. And by constant activity and exposare he 
invigorated his constitution, and prepired himself 
for deeds of hardihood and adventure. At the same 
time he endeavored to supply the deficif^n'^y of his 
earlv education by most ardent, though probably of? 
ten desultory and ill regulated application to every 
branch of useful kno^-vledge. Nor %vere these studies 
directed solely to the improvement of the mind ; he 
endeavored to m;.ke them subservient to a much 
higher end. Frotn bis youth he seduously cultivated- 
Jn himself a generous spirit of chivalry; not th?«- 



LIFEOPPiKE, 167 

punctUious and barren honour which cheaply satisfies 
itself with the rcputaiion of ptrsonal courage and 
frecdon-i from disreputable vice, but the chivalry of 
the ancient school of European honour — that habit of 
mitny and virtuous s ntitnentj rhat spirit of patriotisnn 
and self devotion, which, while it roots out from the 
heart every other weakness of nature, spares and 
cherishes " that last iniirmitv of noble minds," the 
love of glory, and in every great emergency iti which 
man may be called upon to act, sends him forth into 
the service of his country or his kind, at once obey- 
iDgthe commands of duty, and elevated and animated 
by the warm impulse ^.f enthusiastic feeling. 

In March 1801, he married Miss Clarissa Brown, 
of Cincinnati, in the state of Kentucky. By this 
marriage he had several children, only one of whom, 
a daughter, survives hinu 

In 1805, a new career of honourable distinction was 
opened to this active and aspiring youth. Soon after 
the purchase of Louibiana, the government of the 
United States determined upon taking measures to 
explore their new teriitory, and that immense tract of 
wilderness, included within its limits. Besides ascer- 
taining its geographical boundaries, it was wished to 
acquire some knowledge of -its soil and natural pro- 
ductions, of the course of its rivers, and their fitness 
for the purposes of navigation and other uses of civil- 
ized life, and also to gain particular information of 
-the numbers, character, and power of the tribes of 
Indians who inhabited this territory, and their several 
dispositions towards the United States. With these 
views, while Captains Lewis and Clarke were sent to 
explore the unknown sources of the rvlissouri, Pike 
was dispatched on a similar expeiiition ft^r the purpose 
-of tracing the Mississippi to its head. 

On the 9th o^ August, 1805, Pike accordingly em- 

4Darked at St Louis, and proceeded up the Mississippi, 

with twenty men, in a stout b^at, provisioned for four 

.jpjonthsj but they were soon obliged to leave their 



f#S LIFE OF PIRE. 

boat and proceed on thtir journey by land^ or in ca 
noes, which they built alter leaving their boat, and 
carried vviih them on their march. For eight months 
and twenty clays this adventurous soldier and his faith- 
ful band were almost continually «'xposed to hardship 
and peril, d.^pending tor provisions upon the precarious 
fortunes of t'le chase, enduring the most piercing cold, 
and cheerfully submitiinu; to the most constant and 
harassing toils. They where soaielinies for days to- 
gether wiihout food, and they freequanily slept without 
cover on the bare earth, or the snow, during the bit- 
terest inclemency of a northern winter. Pike had no 
intelligent companion upon %v.bom he could rely for 
advice or aid, and he literally performed the duties of 
astronomer, surveyoT, commanding officer, clerk, spy, 
guide, and hunter, frequently preceding the party 
for manv miles, in order to reconnoitre, or rambling 
for whole days in starch of deer or other gan.e for 
provision, and then returning to his men in the eve» 
Ding, hungry and tatigued, to sit down in the open 
air, to copy by the li.gnt of the fire the notes of his 
journey, and to plot out the courses of the next day. 

In addition to the other obj>:cts of Pike's mission^ 
as specifically detailed in his instructions, he con- 
ceived th.u his duty as a soldier required of him an 
investigation of the views and conduct of the British 
traders within the Umits of our jurisdiction, and an 
enquiry into the e:sact limits of the territories of the 
United States and Gr<jat Britain. This duty he per- 
formed, savs the author of a for.ner sketch of his bi- 
ography, with the boldness of a soldier, and the polite- 
cess of a gentlemen; he might have justlv added^ 
>vith the disinterestedness of a man of honour, and 
the abiiily and discretion of an enlightened politician. 
He found that the north west company, by extending 
their establish Tients and commerce /ar within the 
bounds of the Unite^^ States, and eVen into the very 
centre of Louisiana, were thus enabled to introduce 
*heir goods wiihout dut\ or licence into our terrJU:; 



UFE OF PIKE. ^^^^ 

lies, to the very great injury of the revenue, as well 
as to the complete exclusion of our own countrymen 
from allcompetion in this trade. He perceived,, be- 
sides, that these establishments were made subservient: 
to the purposes of obtaining an influence over the sav- 
ages dangerous to the peace, and injurious to the hon- 
our and character of our government^ and he thought 
it evident, that in ca5e of a rupture between the two 
powers, all these posts would be used as rallying points 
for the enemy, and as places of deposite for arms to be 
distributed to the Indians, to the infinite annoyance, il: 
nut total ruin, of all the adjoining territories. 

By means of veprimands and threats to the inferiox: 
traders, and a frank and spirited remonstrance to the* 
director of the Fond du Lac department, he succeed^ 
ed in procuring a stipulation, that in future no at- 
tempts should be made to influence any Indsan on poI» 
itical affairs, or any subjects foreign to trade, and thac 
measures should be immediately taken to prevent the 
display of the British flag, or any ether mark of power, 
within our dominioni together with a promise thac 
such representations should be immediately made to 
the company, and such an arrangement e-ffected with 
regard to duties, as would hereafter set that question 
at rest. 

Within two mofiths after his return from this expe- 
dition, Pike was selected by General Wilkinson for a 
second perilous journey of hardship and adventure. 
The principal purpose of this expeditson was, like thafi 
of the former, to explore the interior of Louisiana^ 
He was directed to embark at St. Louis with the Os- 
age captives, (about forty in nuoiber,) who had been 
rescued from their enemies, the Potowatomies, by the 
interference of our government, and to transport them 
to the principal v'rllage of their nation; and he was in- 
ctructed to take this opportunity to bring about inter- 
V lews between the different savage nations, and to en- 
deavour to assuage animosities, and establish a perma- 
nent peace among them. He was, after accomplishini? 
1.5 



iyO LrFE OF PIKE. 

these objects, to continue his route into the interior, 
and to explore the IVlississippi and its tributary 
streams, especially the Arkan&aw and the Red River, 
and thus to acquire such geographical intcrmaticn as 
inight enable government to enter into definitive ar- 
rangemtntsfor a boundary line between our newly ac- 
quired territory and Nordi Mexico. 

In the course of this second journey, our adventu- 
rous soldier, after leaving the Osage village, encoun- 
tered hardships, in comparison ol which the severities 
of his former journey seemed to him ease and luxuiy. 
Winter cveitook the party unprovided with any 
clothing fit to protect thtm front ccld and storn.s. 
Iheir horses died, and for weeks they were obliged 
to explore their way on foot through the wilderness, 
carrying packs of sixty or seventy pounds weight, 
beside their arms, exposed to the bitterest severity of 
the cold, relying solely on the produce of the chase 
for subsistence, and often for two or three days alto- 
gether without food. Ihis part cf his journal*con« 
rains a narrative of a series of sufferings siyfficient to 
iDake the ^* superfluous and Inst-dieted" son of luxu- 
ry shudder at the bare recital. Several of the men 
had their leet fro2:en, and all except Pike, and one 
other, were in scn^e degree injured by the intensity 
of the cold. He thus relates the history of one of 
these dreary days: 

19th January, Monday. — We again took the field, 
aud after crawling about one mile in the snow, got 
Dear enough to shoot eight times at a gring of buffa- 
loes, and could plainly perceive two or three ol them 
to be badly wounded, but by accident they took the 
wind of us, and, to our great mortification, all were 
rible to run ofT. By this time I had become extremely 
weak and faint, it being the founh day since ve had 
received sustenance, all of which we were marching 
hard, and the last night had scarcely closed our ejes 
to sleep. We were inclining our course to a point of 
Y^oods; determined to reuain absent and die by our- 



LIFE OF PIKE^ ■*' 

selves, rather than return to our camp and behold the 
misery of our poor lads, when we discovered a gang 
of buffdloes coining along at some distance. With 
great exertions 1 made out to run and place myselt 
behind some cedars, and by the greatest good luck 
the first shot stopped one, which v/e killed in three 
more shots, and by the dusk had cut each of us a 
heavy load, with v/'hich we determined immediately 
to proceed to the- camp, in order to relieve the anxie- 
ty of our men and carry the poor fellows some food. 
We arrived there about twelve o'clock, and when I 
threw my load down, it was with difficulty I prevent- 
ed myself from falling; I was attacked with a giddi- 
ness of the head, which lasted for some minutes. On 
the countenances of the men was not a frown, rror a" 
desponding eye, but all seemed happy to hail their of- 
ficer and companions, yet not a mouthful had they 
eat for four days. 

in the- course of this long, toilsome, and perilous 
march, Pike displayed a degree of personal heroisra 
and hardihood, united with a prudence and sagacity 
which, had they been exerted on some wide theatr«- 
of action, would have done honour to the most re- 
nowned general. 

'« 4th January, Saturday. — We sallied out in the 
nr.orning, and shortly after perceived our little band, 
marching through the snow, (about two and a half 
feet deep,) silent and with down cast countenances. 
We joined them, and learnt that they, finding thci 
snow to fall so thickly that it was impossible to pro- 
ceed, had encamped about one o'clock the preceding 
day. As I found all the buffaloes had quilted the 
plains, I determined to attempt the traverse of the 
mountains, in which we persevered until the snow be- 
came so deep it was impossible to proceed, whtn I 
again turned my face to the plain, and for the first 
lime in the voyage found myself discouraged, and for 
the first lime heard a man exnress himself in a sedi- 
tious manner; he exclaimed, " that it was more than 



» 



^7l^ MFE OF PIKE, 

buman nature could bear, to march three days whhou-: 
sustenance, through snows three feet deep and carry 
burdens only fit for horses," &c, 

•* As I knew very well the fidelity and attachment 
of the majority of the men, and even of this poor fal- 
low, and that it was in my power to chastise him when 
I thought proper, I passed it by for the moment, de- 
termined to notice it at a more auspicious time. We 
dragged our weary and emaciated limbs along until 
about 10 o'clock. The doctor and myself who wer? 
in advance, discovered some buffaloes on the plain, 
when we left our loads, and order v/ritten on the snow, 
t^ proceed to th«3 tasarest woods to encamp. V/e 
weni in pursuit of the buflVioea which were on the 
TOove. 

" The doctor, who was then less reduced than m}'- 
self, ran and got behind a hill, and shot one dowDj 
which stopped the remainder. We crawled up to the 
dead one, and shot from him as many as twelve or 
fourteen times among the gang, when they removed 
out of sight. We then proceeded to cut up the one 
we had shot, and after procuring each a load of the 
ameat, we marched for the camp, the smoke of which 
was in view. We arrived at the camp to the great 
joy of our brave lads, who immediately feasted sump= 
tuously. After our repast, I sent for the lad who 
iiad presumed to speak discontentedly in the course of 
the day, and addressed him to the following effect; 
**Brown, you this day presumed to make use of lan- 
guage which was seditious and mutinous^ I then 
passed it over, pitying your situation, and attributing 
at to your distress, rather than to your own inclination 
to s6w discontent among the party. Had I reserved 
provisions for ourselves, whilst you were starving^ 
had we been marching along light and at our ease, 
whilst you were weighed down with your burden, 
then you would have had some pretext for your ob- 
servations; but when we were equally hungry, weary, 
emaciated' and charged with burden^ which I bel5ev;e 



LIFE OF PIKE, : 17 S 

my natural strength is less able to bear than any man's 
in the party; when we were alwajs foremost in break- 
ing the road, reeonnoitering, and the fatigues of the 
chase, it was the height of ingratitude in you, to let 
an expression escape which was indicative of discon- 
tent, your ready compliance and firm perseverance I 
had reason to expect, as the leader of men, and my 
companions in miseries and dangers. But your duty 
as a soldier demanded your obedience to your officer, 
and a prohibition of such language, which for this 
time I will pardon, but assure you, should it ever be 
repeated, I will revenge your ingratitude and punish 
your disobedience by instant death. I take this op- 
portunity, likewise, to assure you, soldiers, of my 
thanks for the obedience, perseverance, and ready 
contempt of every danger, v/hich you have generally 
cvincedj I assure you, nothing shall be wanting on my 
part to procure you the rewards of our government, 
and gratitude of your countrymen. " 

" fhey all appeared very much affected, and retired 
with assurances of perseverance in duty." 

Amidst these distresses, after a three month's win- 
ter's march, they explored their way to what they sap- 
posed to be the Red River, Here they were met by 
a party of Spanish cavalry, by whom Pike was in- 
formed, to his great astonishment, that they, were not 
on the Red River, but on the Rio del Norte, and ia 
the Spanish territory. All opposition to this force 
would have been idle, and he reluctantly submitted to 
accompany the Spaniards to Santa Fe, to appear before 
the governor. Though, to his great mortification, his 
expedition was thus broken off, all hardship was nov/ 
at an end. He was treated on the road with great 
respect and hospitality, though watched and guarded 
with much jealousy; but he still insisted on wearing 
his sword, and that his m^n retain their arms. In- 
deed, it was his resolution, liad he or any of his people 
been ill used, to surprise the guard, tarry off their hor^ 
ses, and make the best of their way to Apaches. 
15^- 



i74f 



LIKE Of PIKE 



When he arrived at Santa Fe, his whole dress wns 
a blanket coat, blue trowsers, mockasons, and a scar- 
let cloth cap lined with a fox skin; his men were in 
leather coats with leggins, &c., and not a hat in the 
whole party. But he appeared before the governor 
with his usual spirit, and insisted on being treated 
with the respect due to an American officer. From 
Santa Fe he was sent to the capital ot the province of 
Biscay, to be exannined by the commandant general, 
where he was well received and entertained for some 
time, after which he was sent on his way home, under 
the escort of a strong party of horse. He arrived 
with his little band at Natchitoches, on the 1st of 
Jul>,180r. 

The most vexatious circumstance attending this un- 
expected sequel to his expedition, was the seizure 
of all his papers, except his private journal,, by the 
Spanish government. He had beenstfitled out with a 
complete set of mathematical and astronomical instru- 
Wients, and had made frequent and accurate observa- 
tions. He had thus ascertained the geographical situ- 
ation of the most important points, with much preci- 
sion, and had collected materials for an accurate map 
of a great part of the country he traversed. The sei- 
zure of these papers is a real loss to the cause of sci- 
ence. It is, however, in perfect conformity to that 
aarrovv and purblind policy which the old Spanish 
gov rnment uniformly manifested in the administra- 
tion of its co.onies. 

Pike, upon his return, received the thanks of the 
government; a committee of the house of representa- 
tives expressed their high senceof his **zeal, persever- 
ance, and intelligence," and the administration, much 
to its honour, bestowed upon him a more solid testi- 
mony of approbation, by a rapid promotion in the ar- 
my. He was immediately appointed captain, shortly 
after a mnjor, and upon the further enlargement of the 
aroiy in 1810, a colonel of infantry. 

Im^TiKdiately afa^r the decoration s?f war, Fiks was 



LIFE OF Pint;. 4 75 

Stationed with his regiment upon the northern frontier, 
and upon the coiDmencement of the campaign of 1813, 
was appointed a brigadier general. 

There was a tincture of enthusiasm in Pike's char- 
acter which communicated itself to his whole conduct: 
in whatsoever pursuit he engaged, he entered upon it 
with his whole soul. But the profession of arns had 
been always his favourite stud)' — his life's employ- 
ment, and his leasure's charms/ Having served 
through every gradation of rank, almost from a private 
up to a general, and very often employed in seperate 
and independent commands, he was intimately ac- 
quainted with all the minutise of discipline. The vete- 
ran of a peace establishment is too apt, from the want 
of greater objects, to narrow his mind down to the 
little details of a military life, until, at length, every 
trifle swells up into ideal importance, and the cut of a 
coat or the tying of a neckcloth, seems big with the 
fate of nations. Pike was extremely attentive to all 
the particulars, even to the most minute points of dis- 
cipline and dress, yet he gave them their duQ impor- 
tance, and no more. — He did not degrade the soldier 
into a mere living machine, and whilst he kept up the 
strictest discipline, he laboured to make his men feel 
?hat this severity arose not from caprice or ill t&mpef , 
but from principle, and that it had for its sole object 
their own glory, their ease, their health, and safety. 
Careless of popularity, and negligence of the arts by 
which good will is often conciliated, where there is 
no real esteem, by the unassuming simplicity and 
frankness of his manners, and the undeviating honour 
of his conduct, he bound to himself the hearts of all 
around him with the strong ties of respect and affec- 
ticn. 

Thus self formed, and thus situated, the eyes of 
the army were anxiously cast toward him as the cho- 
sen champion who was to redeem their re; utation 
from that disgrace with which it had been stiuiied by 
ii long series of disasters, The day for w.hich his 



176 MPE OF PIKE. 

heart had long panted at length arrived — a bright day 
of glory tor the hero, of gloom and sorrow to has 
country. He was selected for the conimand of the 
land forces in an expedition againt York, the capita! 
of Upper Canada, and on the 25th of April, sailed 
from Sackett's Harbour in the squadron commanded 
by Commodore Chauacey. 

On the 27ih of April, Gen. Pike arrived at York, 
with about seventeen hundred chosen men, and im- 
mediately prepared to land. The spot which was se- 
lected for landing, was the site of an old French fort 
called Torento, of which scarcely any vestiges nov/ 
remain. The plan of attack was formed by General 
Pike himself, and clearly and minutely detailed in 
his general orders, which were directed to be read at 
she head of every corps; every field officer was also 
directed to carry a copy of them in order that he 
might at anv moment refer to them, and give expla- 
nations to his subordinates. Every thing was ar- 
j-anged, and every probable exigency provided for, 
%vith admirable method and precision. 

There is one paragraph of these orders which 
j^reathes so much of his own spirit, that I cannot for- 
bear extracting it. It is deeply stamped with that 
unity of character which was visible throughout al! 
his actionsp and which is, in truth, one of the strong- 
est marks of a powerful and original ndnd. 

*' No man will load until ordered, except the light 
troops in front, until within a short distance of the ene- 
my, and then charge bayonets; thus letting the enemy 
see that we can meet them with their own weapons. 
Any man firing or quitting his post without orders 
must be put to instant death, as an example may be 
necessary. Platoon ofHcers will pay the greatest atten- 
tion to the coolness and aim of their men in the fire; 
their regularity and dressing in the charge. The field 
officer will watch over the conduct of the whole. 
Courage and bravery in the field, do not more dis- 
tinguish the soldie^r than humanity after victory; aod 



LIFE OP PIKE. 



177 



^T-hatever examples the savage allies of our enemies 
cnay have given us, the general confidently hopes that 
the blood of an unresisting or yielding enemy will 
never stain the weapons of the soldiers of his column. 
Property must be held sacred^ and any soldier who 
shall so far neglect the honour of his profe&sion as to 
be guilty of plundering the inhabitants shall, if con- 
victed be punished with death. But the commanding 
general assures the troops, that should they capture a 
large quantity of public stores, he will use his best 
endeavours to procure them a rev/ard from his gov- 
ernment.*' 

As soon as the debarkation commenced, a body of 
British grenadiers was paraded on the shore, and the 
Glengary Fencibles which had been disciplined with 
great care, and has repeatedly proved itself fully equal 
to any regular force, appeared at another point. Large 
bodies of Indians were also seen in different directions, 
whil© others filled the woods which skirted the shore. 
General Sheaffe commanded in person. 

Forsythe's rifiemen were tht* first to land, which 
they effected under a heavy fire ot musketry and ri- 
fles from the Indians aad British. As soon as the 
fire from the shore commenced, Major Fors}the had 
ordered his men to rest a few moments upon their 
oars, and return the fire. At this moment Pike was 
standing upon the deck of his ship. He saw the 
pause of his first division, and, impatient at the delay, 
exclaimed, ** I can stay here no longer, come juinp 
into the boat;'' and, springing into it, followed by his 
staff, was immediately rowed into the thickest of the 
fire. 

The infantry had followed the riflemen, and formed 
in platoons as soon as they reached the shore. — Gcno 
Pike took the command of the first platoon which he 
reachrd, and ordered to prepare for a charge. They 
mounted the bank, and the enemy, after a short con- 
flict, broke at once, and fled ia disorder towards the 
work?* At that moment the sound of Forsythe's ba? 



^ ' ® LIFE OF PIKE. 

gle was heard, announcing his success at another \ioitit. 
Its edect upon the Indians was almost electrical; they 
gave a horrible yell and fied in every direction. 

The whole force, being now landed was again formed 
and led on by General Pike in person, to attack the 
enemy's works. They advanced through the woods, 
and after carrying one battery hy assault, in the most 
gallant manner, raoved'on in columns towarks the main 
work. The fire of the enemy was soon silenced by 
our artillery, and a flag of surrender was expected, 
when a terrible explosion suddenly took place from 
the British magazine, which had been previously pre- 
pared for this purpose. Pike, after aiding in remov- 
ing a wounded man with his own hands, had sat down 
on 'he stump ot a tree with a British Serjeant, who 
had been taken, and was employed with Captain Nich- 
olson and one of his aids, in examining the prisoner^ 
1 he explosion was tremendous; an immense quantity 
of large stones were thrown in every direction with 
incredible force, and scattered destruction and confu- 
sion around among our troops. The general his aid. 
Captain Nicholson, and the prisoner fell together, all 
except the aid, mortally wounded. General Pike had 
been struck on the breast by a heavy stone. Shortly 
after he received the blow, he said to his wounded aid, 

*' I am mortall) wounded — write to my friend D 

and tell him what you know of the battle, and to com- 
fort my -^ — ." In the same broken manner, he af- 
terwards added several other requests relating to his 
private affairs. 

The troops were instantly formed again; as a body 
of them passed by their wounded general, he said 
" Push on, brave fellows, and averge your general.*^ 
While the surgeons were carrying him out of the 
field, a tumultuous huzza was heard from our troops; 
Pike turned his head with an anxious look of enquiry; 
he was told by a sergeant, ''The British union jack is 
coming down general — the stars arc: going up." He 
heaved a heavy sigh, and smiled. He was then ear- 



I 



LIFE OF PIKE. ly^ 

Vied on board the commodore's ship, where he lived 
for a few hours. Just before he breathed his last the 
British standard was brought to him; he made a sign 
to have it placed under his head, and expired without 
a groan. 

The death of General Pike, at such a period, was 
a great public misfortune; his countrymen did not 
know half the extent of their loss, 

Ciallant spirit! It was thine to "wash out with thy 
life blood the foul remembrance of our country's 
shame — of those disgraces which had blasted her ho- 
nour, and tarnished the ancient glories of her arnis. 
It was thine in life, and in death, to give to your 
companions in arms a great example of chivalrous 
honour and heroic courage; — it was thine to lead them 
to the threshold of the temple of fame, and bid them 
enter on a long career of glory. 

Gallant spirit! thy country will not forget thee; thou 
shah have a noble memory. When a greatful nation 
confers upon the heroes of Niagara ana Erie ihe lau- 
rels they have so nobly earned, she v^ill bid them re- 
neember that those laurels were first gathered on the 
shores of York, and were watered by the blood of a 
heroe; and hereafter when our children and childrens 
children shall read the story of patriots and heroes 
who have gallantly fallen in the arms of victory; when 
their eyes glisten and Jheir } oung hearts throb wildly 
»t the kindling theme, they will close \he volume 
which tells of Epaminondas, of Sydney, or of VV^olfe, 
acd proudly exclaim, «* And we too, had our Moct- 
^ornery and our Pike," 



LIFE OF HAEHISON. 

William Heni^y Harrison, was born in Vir^i. 
B*u, at a place called Beckley, on the James river, 
twenty miles below Kichmond, and his descent is 
from one of the oldest and most respectable families 
of that state. He was destined by his lather to the 
study and practice of physic. Accordingly, after 
receiving a suitable school education, he commenced 
the study with Doctor Liepcr of Richmond, and was 
on his way to Philadrlphia, with a view to finish his 

studies, when he heard of his lather's death It was 

a profession not congenial with his views, and ha 
therefore at that juncture, abandoned it, and took a 
commission in the United States' army. 

After spending a few weeks in the recruiting ser- 
vice at Philadelphia he proceeded to the North-west- 
er territory, and joined his regiment at Fort Wash- 
ington, a few days after St. Clairs defeats. He was 
then but nineteen vear^ of agej a stripling, to appear- 
ance wretchedly qualified to endure tiic latigues of a 
campaign in the viilderness. 

His first enterprise was with a detachment of twen- 
ty men, ordered to escort some pack horses to Fort 
Hamilton. It was attended^ with great dangers and 
privations, but was executeci so satisfactorily as to 
draw from Gen. St. Clair the warmest public thanlcs. 

Soon after, Gen. St. Clair returned to Philadelphia, 
and Wilkinson took command in his place. The year 
following, (1792) vvas occupied in raising and discip* 
lining a new army, which descended the Ohio and 
encamped near Cincinnatti, in Jone 1793, under com- 
mand of General Wayne. Here Harrison joined 
them and was appointed second aid-de-camp to the 
commander in chief, and from that place they march- 
ed to Greenville and took up winter ,quarte«-s. In 
Jane 1794, they took up a Hue of march against the 
Indians, and on the 20th of August came into an en- 
gagement with them at the foot of the Miami Rapids. 
and soon routed them. Here Harrison a5:ted a Con- 



LlVI^ OF HARIUSON. =^8^ 

. icuous part, and acquitted himself with honour 
l his bactle had the desired effect; the Indians sued 
for ptacc; and a tieaty w.ss effected the year following. 

In 17j5 he was coinmissioned captain, and in tb« 
avitunin (*f the same year, married a daughter of John 
C'oeeves Symnes, Esq. a judge of the north- western 
trrritory. Gen. Wayne having retired to the Atlan- 
tic States, left him in command of Fort Washington, 
where he continued until 1797, and as the country- 
was at peace, retired from the army, and was sooa 
afterwards appointed Secretary of the north- vvestersa 
territory. 

In the year 1799, he was st?nt Delegate to Congress 
from that territory, and at the formation of the Indi- 
ana territory w^^ appointed first Governor of it, to 
the capital of which, ( Vmccnnes,) he removed witk 
his famil), in 1801. 

The civil administration of G^^n. Harrison, although 
i^.ot marked with sucli brilliant circumstances as his 
ndlitary operations, was notwithstanding, managed 
with equal judgment. 

At the celebrated battle of Tippacanoe, in 1811, 
Gen. Harrison,, as Governor, was at the head of the 
troops and directed the action, which terminated in 
completely routing the Indians, and of destroying a 
treacherous and formidable conspiracy against the tei- 
ritory. 

The war with Great Britain gavne him another op- 
portunity of displaying his military character. At 
the capture of General Hull and his army, and the 
surrender of the Michigan territory, in 1812, Gen, 
Harrison, was called to the command of the north- 
western army, and ordered to collect what forces he 
could; and if possible advance to Detroit avid reduce 
?vialdcn during that fall. Accordingly he hastened to 
the frontier, Si after surmouniing the greatest difficul- 
ties, arrived at the foot of the Miami rapids. — A pre- 
mature movement had, however, been made by Gen, 
Winchester, and which ended in the defeat and cap- 

16 



^BB LIFE OF HARmSON. 

ture of himself and army. In consequence, all nop°B 
of effecting the objects ot the campaign, during that 
season, were at an end. He thereiorc took up winter 
quarters on the Miami, at Fort IVleigs, where he was 
attacked in the spring by the British army, under Gen. 
Proctor, with a force vastly superior. The British 
general opened his batteries and continued firing irom 
the 1st to the 5th of August, and finding it impossi- 
ble to carry on the siege to effect, made a precipitate 
retreat, on the 9iho Gen. Harrison's army being aug- 
mented to about 3,S00, he prepared to follow the ene- 
my, and passing Maiden and Detroit, which ihcy h-id 
abandoned, crossed the Thames at Arnold's Mills, 
and soon after came into engagement. His backwoods 
horsemen were drawn up, and charged the enemy's 
line at full speed. This had the desired effect: shtir 
Tanks were immtdiateiy broken, and the arnty surren- 
dered to Gen. Harrison, Gen. Proctor having made 
his escape with a few dragoons and mounted IndianSo 

The defence of Fort Meigs, and the subsequent 
capture of the British army, n)ay be fairly considered 
the most brilliant and extraordinary events of the late 
war. 

T^ese were his last military achievements. A trea- 
ty of peace was concluded with Great Britain, and his 
services being no longer wanted, he retired, with 
*« blushing honours thick upon him." to the bosom of 
his friencls, and to the enjoyment of domestic happi- 
;£oess. 



LIFE OF JACKSON. 

Andrew Jackson, is of Irish parentage. His 
faiher and mother emigrated to South Carolina, in 
the year 1765, with two sons, both young, and pur- 
chased a tract of land, on which they settled, in vvhat^ 
was then called the Waxaw scttlennent, about fotty- 
five n/iles above Camden. Here was born, on the 
15th JNlarch, in the year 1767, Andrew, the subject 
of the present sketch. His lather died soon after, 
leaving the three children to be provided for by the 
mother, a woman who would seem to have possessed 
excellent feelings and considerable strength of mind» 
The scantiness of their patrimony allowed only one of 
them to be liberally cnducatedj and this was Andrew, 
whom she destined for the sacred ministry. He was 
sent to a flourishing academy in the settlement, where 
he remained, occupied vvi^.h jhe dead languages, until 
the revolutionary war brought an enemy into his 
neighborhood, whose approach left no alternative but 
the choice of the British or American banners. The 
intrepid and ardent boy, encouraged by his patriotic 
mother, hastened at the age of fourteen, in company 
with one of his brothers, to the American camp, and 
enlisted in the service of his country. The eldesi; 
of the three had already lost his life in the same ser- 
vice, at the battle of Stono. The survivors Andrew 
and liobcrt, having been suffered to attend the county 
drill and general musters, were not unacquainted with 
the manucl exercise and field evolutions. 

After retiring into North Carolina, before the Brit- 
ish army, with their corps, they returned to Waxaw 
settlement, and found themselves suddenly engaged 
with a superior British force, who surprised a gallant 
band of forty patriots, to which they belonged, routed 
it and took eleven prisoners. Andrew Jackson and 
his brother escaped from the field, after fighting brave- 
ly; but, having entered a house, next day, in order to 
procure food, they fell into the hands of ^ corps of 



i^B-^ 



LIFE OF JACKSON. 



British dragoons, and a party of torij«, that v/e.^ 
marauding together. Andrew, when under guard., 
was ordt'ied by a British officer, in a haughty man- 
iicr, to clean his boots; the youth perennptorily refiis- 
cd to do so, claiming, with (irmntss, the treatment 
doe to a prisoner ot war. The officer aimed a blow 
at his ht?d with a sabre, which would have proved 
fatal, had he not parried it v/ith his left hand, on 
xvhic|h h^ received a severe wour.'d. His brother, at 
ihe same time, and for a similar offtnce, received a 
gash on the head, which afterwards occasioned his 
death. Thus, did hh only relatives, two of this es- 
timable family, perish m the spring of life, martyrs 
to iheir pairiotlc aod courageous spiriL Audrtw awd 
his compaciun were cons'irx.cd lo jasl, ia separate 
apartments, an«i treated w'nh the ut .chi harshoesSp 
■^nVil, through the exertions of their fond o. ether, they 
nycre exchanged, a few days aftt;r the b^ule. Th: 
%vorthy woman, worn down by grief, and the fatigue- 
she had undergone in seeking clothes and other com- 
forts for ail the prisoners who had been taken from her 
Sieighbourhood, expired in the course of the foliowint 
month, in the vicinity of Charleston. At the period 
of this melancholy loss, Andrew was languishing un> 
<]er sickness, the consequence of his sufferings in pri- 
son, and his exposure to inclement weather en his re- 
turn home. The small pox supervened and nearly 
terminated his sorrows and his life. But a constitu- 
tion originally good, and vigorous tone of mind, ena- 
bled him to survive this complication of ills. He re- 
covered, and entered upon the enjoyment of his pat- 
rimony, which, though it might have been sufficient 
for the completion of his education, with judicious 
management, soon dwindled to very little in hands 
unused to such a charge. He returned to his classi- 
cal studies; as a means of his future subsistence, with 
increased iniustryj and, at the age of eighteen, in the 
winter of 178 1, repaired to Salisbury, in North Caro- 
lina, to a lawyer's office, in which he prepared himsfli 
ior the bar. la the winter of 1736, he obtaiced a li 



LIFE OF JACirSON- 



18^ 



cense to practice, but finding this theatre unfavorable 
for advancement, eniigrate(i to Nabhville in 1788, and 
there fixed his residence. Success attended his indus- 
try and talents; he acquired a lucrative business in the 
courts, and ere long was appointed attorney-general 
lor the district; in which capacity he continued to acC 
tor several years. 

Tennc-jsee being at that time exposed, even in the 
heart of the settlements, to the incursions of the Indi- 
ans, he became like all around him, a soldiev^ and 
one whose activity and resolution soon made him as 
conspicuous as he was useful. The progress which 
he made in public estimation, by his abilities and ser° 
vices, is marked by his election, in 1796, to the Con- 
vention assembled to trame a constitution tor ihe state* 
In this body he acquired an additional distinction, 
which placed him, the same year, in Congress, in the 
House of Representatives, and the following year ia 
the Senate of the United States. He acted invariably 
with the republican party in the National Legislature, 
but grev/ tired of an unavailing struggle in a small mi- 
2iority, and of a scence of discussion and intrigue for 
which he did not deem himself as well fitted as the 
auscessor, for whose sake, no less than for his own 
gratification, he resigned his post in 179^. ^^e have 
heard some gentlemen who were members of Cor«» 
gress during the time he remained in it, remark that 
he was generally esteemed for the soundness of his 
understanding, and the moderation of his demeanour.. 
Though steadfast and earnest as a party politician, he 
manifested neither violence nor illibrrality. While a 
senator, he was chosen by the fit-ld officers of the Ten- 
nessee militia, without consultation with him, m jjor- 
general of their division, and so remained until 1814, 
when he took the same rank in the service of the U. 
States. On his resignation as- senator, he was ap- 
pointed one of the judges of the siipreme court of 
Tennessee. He accepted this appointment with reluc« 
ivace, and withdrew from the bench as soon as posis** 



♦ 



iS€ LIFE OF JACKSON. 

ble, with the determination to spend the rest of hi^ 
lite in tranquility and seclusion, on a beautiful farm 
belonging to him, and lying on the Cumberlnnd rivtt* 
about ten miles from Nashville. In this retreat he 
passed several years, happy in the indulgence of his 
fondness for. rural occupations, and in the society of 
an affectionate wife and a number of honest friends. 
His quiet felicity was, however, broken up by the 
occurrence of the war with Great Britain. It roused 
his martial and patriotic temper; and when the act of 
congress (of the 6ih of February, and July 1812) 
which authorized the president to accept the services 
of fifty thousand volunteers, were promulgated, Jack- 
son published an energetic address to the militia or' 
his divison, drew two thousand five hundred of thenrj 
ito his standard, and tendered them without delay to 
'the federal government. In Nf-vember he received 
-orders to descend the Mississippi, for the defence of 
ihe lovver country, which was then thought to be \n 
'dani^er. In January, in a very inclement season, he 
•tconductfrd his troops as far as Natchez, wnere he 
■%vas instructed to remain until otherwise directed, 
^Here he employed himself indefatigably, in training 
I and preparing them for service. But, the danger which 
was meant to be repelled, having ceased to exist, in the 
opinion of the secretary of war, he received instruc- 
tions, from the latter, to dismiss, at ore;?, from service, 
thr.se under his comnr^and. The number of sick in 
his camp was great, and they were destitute of the 
fiieans of defraying the expenses of their return hornet 
The rest of his troops, from the same dearth of resour- 
• tes, must have enlisted in the regular army, under 
General Wilkinson. Jackson felt himself responf:ibI,2 
for the restoration of them to their families and friends, 
and therefore, resolved to disobey the orders of the 
'depart:nen? of war, whose head could not be acquaint- 
•@d with the circumstances of the case. He retained 
IS much of the public proptrty in his possession, as 
MYAS n^c.easary to his nurpost; of marching thtm back. 



LIl'E OF JACKSO-V 



187'- 



Vilkinson remonstrated and admonished in vain« 
Jackson replied that he would beiir the rtsponsibility 
^ — he refused to allow Wilkinson's ofHcers, vvheia com- 
niissioned, to recruit from his fvrm^ ; seized upon the 
waggons, required for the transportation of hia sick, 
and set out' with thi3 whole of his force. He gave up 
his c^vn .horses to the infirm^ and shared in all the 
hardships of the soldiers in a long and arduous march. 
It was at the time of \ear w-hen the roads ond swamps, 
to be trodden were in the worst condition. His ex- 
ample silenced all complaint, and endered him the 
more to his companions. On his arrival at Nashville 
he communicated to the president of the United States 
what he had done, and the reasons by which he had 
been guided. His conduct vvas approved of at Wash-=- 
ingtoh, and the expenses, which he had incurred, di- 
rected to be paid. V/e have mentioned thi^ affair 
particularly, because it is the most remarkable among 
the first instances in his history, of that lofty inde- 
pendence in judgment and action, and that disdain of 
conseqaences in the discharge uf a paramount duty, 
v;h^eh have since signalia^^d his career botli military 
and civiL 

We have now reached what may be called the 
second principal era of his life. 

The British and the celebrated Tccumsch had stor- 
ed up the Greek nation of Indians, parties of wh-^m 
made irruptions into the state of Tennessee, commit- 
ting the most barbarous outrages opon defenceless ^srd 
insulated families. Having obtained a supplv of am- 
munition from the Spaniards at Pensacoli, a band of 
six or seven hundred warriors assaulted Fovt Jlimms^ 
situated in the Tensaw setdement, in the Mississippi 
territory, succeeded rn carrying it, and butchered 
nearly all its inmates; three hundred persons, inchid- 
3ng women and children. Ordy seventeen of the 
whole number escaped to spread intelligence of the 
dreadful catastrophe. The news produced the strcng- 
sstsensation aq Tennessee; and ail eyes were, atonsej. 



iSS Li't't OF JACKSON. 

turned lo J^ickson as the leader of the force uhic/, 
mast be sent forth to overtake and punish the rtiiscrc 
anvs. He was, at this time, eonfined to his chauibtr 
with a fractured arm and a wound in the breast, inju- 
ries received in a privat rencontre, it was resolved 
by the legislature to call into service thirty-five hun- 
dred ci the miliiia, to be marched into the heart of 
the Creek nation, conformably to the advice of Jack- 
son, who, riOtvvithstanding the bodily ills under which 
he laboured, readily undertook the chief command iu 
the expedition* He issued an eloquent and nervous 
address to the troops, on the day of the rendt zvous, 
in which he told them, among other things — ''We 
niu'^i and vj\\\ be victorious— we must conquer as 
men who owe nothing to chance; and, who, in the 
midst of victory, can still be mindful of what is due 
to huii);,-.nity." On the 7ih October, 1813, he reach- 
ed the encampment, although his health was far from 
bting restored, h would require too much space to 
follawjiim in all the moverrevits of a campaign, in 
which he appears as a most skilful commander, vigi- 
lant disciplinarion, and dauntless soldier. He had to 
contend not only with a formidable enemy, but with 
raw and mutinous followers aud the severest personal 
hardships. The most fatiguing and prolonged mar- 
ches over mountaii.s & throngh morasses; the frequent- 
and almost total want of food of any kind, the failure 
of contractors; the inefficierjcy or defection of higher 
offirers, and a protracted and perilous absence from 
home, extenuate the occasional despondencv anH dis- 
obedience of the privates of his division. Under the 
worst circum.stances, he displaved the utmost resolu- 
tion and fortitude, and by his indexible spirit and tone 
of perseverance, he brought the enterprise to the most 
satisfactory issue. 

The first battle v/hich he fought, in person, on this 
occasion, was that of Talladega, a fort of the friend- 
ly Cherokee Indians, distant about thirty miles below 
Fort Sirothcr, on the north bank of the riyer CoQ6a*^^ 



LIFE OP JxVCKSOX. 



189 



Tiie Creeks were posted within a quarter of a mile of 
i^ort Talladega, in considerable force.. At seven 
o'clock in the morning, Jackson's columns w§re dvs- 
played in order of baitle. At about eight, his ad- 
vance having arrived within eighty yards of the ene- 
my, received a heavy fire, which they inbtaiitiy return- 
ed, and the engagement soon becanse gei^cral. In fif- 
teen minutes the Creeks were seen flying in every di- 
rection, and were pursued uniil they reached the 
Diouniains, at the distance of about three miles. Their 
irumbers amounted to one thou&and and eighly, of 
whom two-hundred and ninety-nine were left dead on 
the ground. Their whole loss, in the engagement & re- 
treaty as since stated by themselves, was not less thau 
six hundred. On the side ol the Americans, fitieea 
%vere killed and eighty wounded, and several of tiie 
latter soon died. The fort was full oi friendly Indi- 
ans, who had been besieged for several days, and 
would have been massacred; but for the arrival and 
victory of General Jackson. Wa»-.t of provisions 
compelled him to hasten back, after collecting his dead 
and wounded, to Fort Siroiher. He particularly la- 
mented the necessity of this step, as it gave the enemy 
time to recover from their consternation and recruit 
thtir strengih. 

At Fort Sirother, no stores were found by the fam^ 
35hed army on thtir return, owing to the delii quency 
tfthe contractors, jickson distributed all his own 
supplies to the suffering soldiers — tripes constituted 
Ills &ole diet for several days. Scarcity engendered 
discontent and revolt in the cair^p. The (.fficcrs and 
soldiers of the militia determined to abandon the S:rr- 
vice. Ou the morning when ihey were to carry thtir 
inieuiion into effect. General Jackson drew up the vo- 
lunteer compcjnics in front of them, with a mandate 
to prevent their progress— ihcy had not courage to 
advance. They returned to their quarters, but, ou 
the next day, the very volunteers who had been so 
ip.^ployed, mutinied in thf;ir turn and designed to 



'■^^^ LIFE OF JACKSOiN. 

move off in a body. Their surprise was not slight 
when, on attempting this, they iound the same men 
whom they had mtercepted the day before, occupying 
the very position which they had done, for a similar 
purpose. The militia were glad to retaliate, and the 
result was the same. J<ickson was obliged however, 
to withdraw with the troops fiom Fort Strother, to- 
wards Fort Deposit, upon the condition, that if they 
met supplies, which were expected, they would retuns 
and prosecute the campaign. The) had not proceed- 
ed more than ten or twelve miles before they met one 
hundred and fifty beeves; but their faces being once 
turned homewards, they resisted his order to march 
back to the encampment. The scene which ensued 
is characteristic as to his firmness and decision. A 
whole brigade had put iteelf in an attitude for mov- 
ing oCi forcibly. Jackson was still without the use of 
his left arm, seizing a musket and resting it with the 
right on the neck of his horse, he threw himself in 
tront of the colum.n and threatened to shoot the first 
man v^ho should attempt to ad^^ance. Major Reid, 
his aid-de-camp, and General Coffee placed then^selves 
by his side. For several minutes the column preserved 
a menacing attitude, yet hesita'ed to proceed. In the 
mean time, those who remained faithful to their duty, 
amounting to about two companies, were collected, 
and formed at a short distance in advance of the troops, 
with positive directions to imitate the example of the 
general, if the mutineers persisted. These, when no 
individual appeared bold enough to press onward, at 
length wavered, and then soon turned quietly round 
and agreed to submit. It Was a critical instimt; but 
for the firmness of Jackson, the campaign would have 
been broken up, and there was no likelihood of its be- 
ing resumed. 

A third considerable mutiny which happened not 
long after, was suppressed by personal efforts of th 
same kind. The appeals wnich he made to his troop 
at these periods, are elsvatcd and glowing compoi 



LIFE OF JACK-SON. 



19 



tions. The governor of Tennfssee transmitted to him 
advice to d*^sist from the furthrr prosecution (ff the 
camj3aign> on account of his manifold emharrassments 
and inadequate means. Jackson replied to him, re- 
ptlling his suggestion, and urging him to lend assis- 
tance to sustain the honor of Tennessee, and piroteet 
the frontiers from thousands of exasperated sav<}geSo 
This wise and urgent remonstrance finally procured 
for him reinforcements, or rat*'er, sulistitutes fur the 
companies, which he deemed it advisable to dismiss in 
consequence of their disaffection. 

Once more, in the middle of January, 1814, he 
was un his march, bending his course to a part of the 
Tallapoosa river, near the mouth of a creek called 
Emuckfaw. On the 21*^t^ he discovered that he was 
in the neighorhood of the enemv. About midnight 
his spies came in and reported that they had^iscover- 
cd a large encampment of Indians, at abrut three 
miles distance, who, bv their whooping and dancing, 
were, no doubt apprised of his arrival upon the emi- 
nences of Emuckfaw. At the dawn of day the alarm 
guns of the sentinels, and the shrieks and savage yells 
of the enemy announced an assault. The action raged 
for an half hour, when the Indians were put to the 
route. G*fneral Coffee, with four hundred men, was 
detached to destroy the enemv's encampment, Ke 
found it too strong to be assailed wi.'h that force, and 
-had scarcely returned when the savages renewed their 
attack with increased numbers and the greatest im- 
petuosity. The whole day vvas spent in severe fight- 
ing, attended Ijy the destruction of a multitude of the 
assailants. Thev were quiet during the night; hut, 
Jackson perceiving that his provisions were growing 
scarce, and that his wounded required immediate care, 
'determined on the next day to retrace his steps. The 
-retreat began at ten o'clock, and was continued with- 
out interruption, until night, when the army was en- 
camped a quiirter of a mile on the south side of Eno» 
^ichopco cree4;, im the direction of the ford by which 



IDB LIFE OF JACKSON. 

it lay and by which they bad already passed. Th-:, 
next day, after the front guard and part ot the columns 
had crossed, the enemy who had, been in pursuit, 
rushed iron coverts upon the rear and ihrc:w the 
guard into contusion. Jackson was just passing the 
stream when the firing and ytUing commenced. He 
repaired instantaneously to the plaoe of action; form- 
ed the cohumns anew, and nut theuv in motion, in the 
midst of showers ot balls, The savages, being v/arm- 
ly pressed m their turn, broke and fled; and, in a chase 
of two miles, were entirely dispersed. At one mo- 
nFient, the destruction ot the whole Tennessee band 
appeared, almost inevitable. 

The total loss on the American side in the several 
er*gagements which we have just nr^entioned, was only 
twenty killed and seventy- five wounded. The lifelt;-'^ 
bodies of one hundred and nincty-nine of the enemy' 
H'aniors were found; the number of their wounded 
cculd not be conjectured. On the night of the 26th, 
Jackson encamped within three miles of Fort Strother; 
having acconfiplished the several objects of this peril- 
ous expedition; which were a diversion in favor of 
General Floyd, who was advancing with the army 
from Georgia; the prevention of a meditated attack 
upon Fort Armstrong by the savage bands, a consid- 
erable part of whom he either destroved or dispersed; 
and the counteraction of discontent in his ranks, for 
which activitv^and battk were the best remedies. 

In February he discharged the volunteers and his 
artillery company, receiving in their stead fresh mi- 
litia drafted for the occa-^ion. One private of these 
he caused to be executed for mutiny, before the end 
ot the month— an example of severity which had the 
happiest effect in regard to general subordinatiouc 
He suffered again, in an extreme degree, frotn the 
scarcity of provisioas; but having at last by constant 
exertions, removed this obstacle to his plan ot pene- 
trating further into the enemv\s countrv, he set ou' 
OF. the 16th of March from Fort Sirother, and haltec 



Lft'E OP JACKSGNo 

a the 2'1st at the mouth of Cedar Creek. Here 
ie.irning that the savages were still embodic'c], and 
were strongly posted not far frotii New Youcka on the 
Talfapoosa, he resolved to march upon them, as soota 
ars the proper arrangements could be made for pre- 
serving his rear in safetVo 

On the 24th he proceeded v»rith his whoie force, 
which was less than three thousand effective men, and 
in the morning of the 27ih, after a march of fiity three 
miles reached the village of Tohoptka„ The enemy 
having gained intelligence of his approach, collected 
in considerable numbers with a view to give him bat- 
t-le. Their position was admirably calculated for de- 
fence. Surrounded almost entirely b} the river, ic 
was accessible only by a narrow neck (;f land, ol S50 
yards in width, which they had taken much pains to 
secure and defend by placing large timber and trunks 
of trees horizontally on each other, leaving but a single 
place of entrance. From a double roiv of port hole© 
formed in it, they were enabled to direct their fire 
with a sure aim, while they appeared to be secure be- 
hind. 

We need not follow out the details of this briHianr. 
^iTair, so well known by the name of the battle of 
Tohoptlia or Hovi<€ Shoe. 1 he contest was obsti- 
nate and bloody. Jackijon^s troops finally scaled the 
ramparts of the savages, who, disdaining to surrender^ 
leaped down the banks of the river, when they could 
no longer defend themselves from behind the timber 
and brusho The carnage continued until night sepa- 
rated the conriibatants. The general result was the 
destruction of the bravest of the Indian warriors and 
the ruin of their cause, ^Five hundred and fifty se vera 
ef them were left dead on the peninsula. A multi* 
fade perished in the river. Three hundred women 
and children were taken prisoners, ai^d treated with 
humanity. The loss of the victors, including the 
%kndly Indians, was fiftv-five killed and onehuRdre^ 



iit^ LIFE OF JACESGN. 

and forty-six wounded; among the former were somt 
gallant ufficers. 

Having thus struck a decisive blow, Jacks<3n re- 
turned with his wounded, to Fort WilUanns. On the 
2d of April, -he published an address to his army, in 
which he comphmented their courage and conduct, 
but told them that more remained to be done. Un* 
derstanding that the eaemy was yet strong at Hcrth- 
lewalee, a town situated not far Irom the J-lickory 
ground, or that part of the Creek country lying in the 
forks near the junction of the Coosa or Tallapoosa, he 
was anxious to resume operations as soon as possi- 
ble, and unite With the North Carolina and Gv;orgia 
iroops, who were announced to be at no great dis- 
tance, somewhere south af the Tallapoosa. On the 
minth of April, he was on his march, with all his dis- 
TDOsable force, but did not reach Horthlewalee until the 
13th, owing to heavy rams which had sivollen the 
streams that were to be crossedc— The delay afforded 
^n opportunity to the savages ^o escape by flight frorn 
their pursuer, who soon afterwards ciFectcd his junc- 
tion with the Georgia detachments At the Hickory 
ground, the principal chiefs of the hostile tribes sued 
for peace«--those who rt^ected this measure, had sought 
jefuge along the coast and in Pensacola. Jackson 
prescribed to those who were disposed to renew their 
"friendly relatioub with the United States, that they 
should retire and occupy the country about Fort Wil- 
liams and to the east ol the Coosa^ a condition which 
was readily accepted; and which put it out of thtir 
power to renew hostilities with advantage at an\ time« 
Strong parties ot -militia were sent out to range the 
country and receive the submission of the natives. 
Much of the .property plundered by them at Fort 
jMimms and along the frontiers was brought in and 
delivered up» All resistance being at an end, and 
there being.no longer «ny necessity formaintriiniiig an 
army in the fields orders were issued on the Sl^^t of 
April, for the Tennessee troops to be marched bon>£ 
aod dischargeda 



MFE OF JACKSOlTi 



i9&^ 



Such is the mere outline of the famous Creek war^ 
m which Jackson, by the celerity of his movements, 
the inflexibility of his will, and the confidence with 
which his genius and demeanor inspired his associates, 
accomplished as much within a tew months as could 
be thought posbible, consistently with the nature and 
number of his army. 

The complete and final discomfiture of so formi- 
dable a foe as this confederacy of Indians, dre\r the 
attention of the general government to the Tennessee 
commander, and produced a speedy manifestation o£ 
respect entertained for his services and character, in 
bis appointment as brigadier and brevet Major-gene- 
ral in the regular army. A conr.mission ot Major- 
general was fowarded to him in May, 1814;. The 
government deemed it advisable to enter into a treaty 
with the vanquished Indians, for the purpose chiefiv 
of restricting their limits so as to cut oft their commu- 
nication with the British and Spanish agents. Gene- 
ral Jackson was deputed wiih Colonel Hawkins as 
commissioner to negotiate with the Creeks; and orv 
the 10th of July, he reached Alaba^n^ on this errand, 
and by the lOih of August aecomplibhed an agreement, 
under which the Indians bound themselves to hold no 
communicaison with the British or Spanish garrisons^ 
or foreign eniiHsaries, and conceded to the United 
States, the right of erecting military posts in their 
country. The contraction and definition of their ter- 
ritorial limits were attended with considerable difE*- 
culty, but Jackson peremptorily and successfully in» 
sisted upon what he deemed necessary for the future 
security and permanent benefit of the United States. 

During this transaction his mind was struck with 
the importance of depriving the fugitive and refractory 
savages, of the aid and incitement which were admin- 
istered to them in East Florida, and he at once urged 
on the President the propriety of attacking and dis- 
mantling Pensacola. He studied particularly^ to ob- 
tain iaformation of ;he designs which the British might 



^m> i^lFJEi OF JACKS^O:^?. 

liias'.eufarimedi against- the southern parts of the Unicoi 
Wh: alrfi.Rd|v anticipated the. attack, on New Orleans*. 
Hh addressed^ on his own accord, connplaints to the 
GoveruQrof.PensaGola^ and summoned hiai to deliver 
up tht chiefs of theihostile Indians, w-ho were harbour- 
ed; in the fortress. The Governor refused and re- 
criminated^ The American olficer whom Jackson, 
despatched to^ Pensacola with his, expostulations, re- 
ported on his return^ that he saw there nearly two 
hundred British officers and^ soldiers,, and about five- 
liundred. Indians under the training of those officers, 
armed with new muskets, and dressed in English uni- 
fornip Jackson repeated his instances with the gov- 
••ernment, to be allowed ** to plan: the American Eagle" 
on the Spanish walls. He addressed the governors 
<of Tennessee, Louisiana and the Mississippi territorj'^, 
soliciting them to be vigilant and energetic, for dark, 
and heavy clouds hovered over the seventh military 
district." He sent his Adjutant-general, Colonel 
Butler, to Tennessee, to raise volunteers, and himself 
repaired to Mobile to put that region in, a.stateof de- 
fence. 

Towards the end of Augjust, the noted Col. Nichols, 
with a small squadron of British ships, arrived at 
Pensacola, and at the expiration of a fortnight made 
an attack upon Fort Bowyer, situated at the extremity 
of a narrow neck of land, about eighteen, miles below 
uhe head of Mobile bay and commanding its entrance. 
^Nichols was repulsed with the loss of his best ship, 
s^nd two hundred and thirty men killed and woundfdo 
This position had been wholly neglected before Jack- 
son's arrival, who perceived at once its great impor- 
tance, and lost no time in strengthening it to the ut- 
most. The British assailants retired to Pensacola, to 
refit and prepare to make a descent on some less guard- 
ed point. 

Jkjckson became mare and more persuaded, that un» 
less Pensacola should be reduced, it would be in vai.n 
to think of defending his districi. He was con firm eid. 



LIFE OF JACKSON. i 97 

ill- the plan which he had for some time revolved, of 
advancing against the Spanish town and throwing a 
force into the Barrancas, on ]iis own responsibility^ 
In the last week of October, General Coffee arrived 
near Fort Stephens, with two thousand able bodied 
and well armed men from lennesseeo Jackson has- 
tened to the camp, look up the line of march with the 
American army, consisting of Coffee's brigade, the 
regulars and some Indians; in all about three thousand, 
and reached Pensacola about the 6th of November. 
The forts were garrisoned by the British and Spani- 
ards, and prepared for resistance,* batteries v/ere form- 
ed in the principal streets; and the British vessels 
were moored within the bay, and so disposed as to 
command the principal entrance into the town. 
'Jackson required that the different forts, Barrancas, 
St. Rose, and St. Michael, should be forthwith sur° 
rendc^red to be garrisoned and held by the United 
Slates, until Spain should furnish a force sufficient to 
protect her neutrality from the British. On the refu- 
sal of the governor to accede to these terms, Jackson 
pushed his troops at once into the heart of the town, 
having adroitly taken a different direction from thas 
In which he was expected to appear. The Spanish 
batteries in the streets were charged and mastered; the 
Spaniards driven from their position behind the houses 
and fences from which they v/ere firing vollies of mus- 
ketry; and, after some carnage, the governor and his 
adversaries reduced to submission. Fort Barrancas 
was blown up by the British. 

Two days after entering the town, Jackson abarj- 
don^d it, and returned to Fort iV^ontgomery, being 
satisfied with having driven away the British, forced 
the hostile Creeks to fly to the forests, and produced 
a salutary impression on the minds of the Spaniards^ 
In this expedition, none of the Americans were killed, 
and about fifteen or twenty of them only were wound" 
ed- Soon after they had retired, the Spaniards began 
"or.^iiM Fort- Barrancas and Koss'i aod the. Bxitisb' 



i'9S- LIFE Of JAClvSON. 

officers, anxious to gain that confidence wliich ihcv 
bad forfeited hy the destruction of them,,, offered to 
assist in their re-construction. The governor declin- 
ed the offer, and answered further, that when assist- 
ance was it) fact needed, he would apply to his frienc: 
General Jaekson. 

After the general had sent off a detachment of one 
thousand men in pursuitof the Indian warriors who 
had assembled on the Appalachicola, with orders to 
destroy the depots of supplies, and their villages oa 
the rout, and when he had reason to believe that Mo- 
bile and the inhabitants on its borders, were rendered 
comparatively secure by his operations and arrange- 
ments, his chief desire was to depart for New Orlean?,^ 
where he had foreseen the vital danger to be, and 
where he knew his presence to be most maitrial. As 
soon as General Winchester, who had been ordered 
to join hill), reached the Alabama, he left Mobile. 
On the first of Decen ber, he was in New Orleans^ 
and there established his head quarteis. GeUero.J 
Coffee and Colonel Hinds were ordered to march with 
itheir commands,, and take a position as convenient to 
^ew Orleans as should be compatible with the objec^: 
of procuring forage for the horses of the dragoons. 

Louisiana was ili suppli-dwith armso Its motley 
population, French and Spaniards, were not yet suffi- 
ciently fond of the American government to fight very 
desperately in its defence. New Orleans was unpre- 
pared to withstand an enemy, and contained but too 
many traitors or mul-contentSo JfJckson was ncarfy 
disabled in body, by sickness and fatigue— he expect- 
ed a large and perfectly appointed British force — his 
oply means of resistance weje the few regulars about 
3iim, the Tennessee volunteers, and such troops as the 
'State of Lcuisiyna might itself raise. He maintained 
*lio^' ever, a confident aspect, and a confident tcnf. K^ 
summoned, at onee, the governor and citizens to ex- 
Hart themselves — he set them the ex-imple of unremic 
iie^astiviij? md stern r?89.1"*'on< Yplgjxtetr comp^ 



LIFE OF JACKSON- 



l^^ 



aies were raised; batteries were repaired or construct" 
e-d, and gun-boats stationed on the most eligible points 
on the river. He roused the Legislature, who before 
had done little or nothing, to lend hiiu their concur- 
rence. His language to them- was, " vvith energy and 
expedition, all is safe — dehiy further, and all. is lost.*'' 
Coinmodore Patterson, who covnmandcd the naval 
forces executed every order with alacrity and vigour. 
Certain inforoiatioa was soon received that an English 
lleet was off Cat and Ship Island, within a short dis- 
tance oi the American lines. Oh the 14th ot' Decem- 
ber, forty-three British boats, tnounting as man) can- 
non; with twelve hundred cboseornen, well armed 
attacked the Americati fiotilla of five boats on Lake 
Borgne, and capturted it, but not without a severe 
contest and heavy loss of men. This disaster afflicted 
but did not dismay General Jackson. On the ISth 
he reviewed th«- militia, and harangued them with a 
contagious, ardour of patriotism, . 

Resistance on the lakes being at an end, the enemy 
was expected to advance without much further delay. 
Expresses were sent off in quest of General Coffee;, 
to whom his commander wrote, *~ You must not sleep 
until you arrive within striking distance. Innumera- 
ble defiles present themfseives where your riflemen wril 
be all important,''' On the night of the 19th Decem- 
ber, Coffee encamped, with eight hundred men, with- 
in fifteen miles of New Orleans; having marched 
eighty miles thclastday. In four days. Col. Hinds, 
with the Mississippi dragoons, was at his post; hav- 
ing effvcted a march of two hundred and. thirty nules 
in that periodo. 

Jackson vvas not long in discovering the truth of 
what had been communicated to him by the governor 
of Louisiana, that *' the country was tilled with Brit- 
ish spies and stipendaries." He suggested to the Le° 
gislature the propriety and necessity, of suspending 
;he privilege of habeas corpiL^. While rhut assembfy 
^■viai.e-delibgrating^ slowly upon tbdr power to ado'^t 



2\j0 life of JACKSON. 

the measure, he proclaimfd the city of New Grleanr 
and its environs to be under mcwtial laiv, and estab- 
lished a most rigid nrjilitary police. The crisis did not 
admit of any other system consistently with the public 
safety, and happy it v/as that the commander did not 
%vant tither sagacity or decision. When a judge of 
the United Stales' court determined to try the ques- 
tion of supremacy between the civil and military pow- 
er he arrested the judge and ordered him to leave the 
city. " I must be britf there is treason." On the 
Sist December, General Carroll reached General Cof- 
fee''s encampment, four miles above the city, from 
Nashville, with two thousand Tennessee yeomanry. 

On the 22i,l, the British were accidentally discovered 
emcii^)og Irom the swamp and woods about seven 
miles below the towno in spite of all the precautions 
taken to guard the most dangerous avenues, treachery 
found out for the enemy a narrow pass, Bayon Bien^ 
%fenu, through which they reached the banks of the 
Mississippi. On the 23d, at one o'clock in the after- 
noon, Dositive information of their landing was broughi 
to Ticicson. He resolved to meet them that ni^ht. 
Generals CcfFce i nJ Carroll were ordered to join him, 
and arrived, in two hours with their forces. As he 
v/as marching through the city, his ears were assailed 
with the screams of a multitude oi females, who 
dreaded the worst consequences from the approach of 
the enemy. "Say to them,*' exclaimed he to a gen- 
tleman near him, "not to be alarmedj the enemif shall 
never reach the citij, 

Th ■ n amber of the British was at E.rst three thoU" 
sand, and it was considc-rabiv increased during the 
night. The onset was made by the Americans about 
dusk. The battle, complicated and fierce, continued 
for some time until both parties were thrown into con° 
fusion, owing to the darkness of the night and the 
nature of the ground. The enemy yielded the field 
for nearly a mile. The American general, finding 
thai thev wer^ constaatlj receiviPg, reinforceaiente^ 



LWE OF JACKSON^. 



^at 



resolved to draw ofFand renew the attack at dawn of 
day, alter he had called for general Carroll and his divi- 
sion, who had been left behind.. Carroll soon arrived,, 
hut as the nun:ibers ot the enenrij/ were discovered to 
be augcnented to six thousand, Jackson deemed it. 
expedient to forbear all. offensive efforts, until the 
troops daily- expected from Kentucky should reach 
their destination. Accordingly, he fell back and 
formed his line behind a deep ditch that ran at right 
angles from the river. This position was recom- 
mended by two circumstances; the swamp, which 
skirted the river at various distances, approached here 
within four hundred yards, of it, and hence from the 
narrowness of the pass, it was more easily to be de- 
fended; theje was^ too, a deep c3aal,.and.ihe dirt being 
thrown on the upper &ide, already conMituted a tolej-- 
able breast work. Behind this the Aiwerican troops 
Were found with a determination to resist there to the 
last extremity. The portion of them who were actu- 
ally engaged in the battle an the 23d, did not amo'jjit 
to two thousand men. Their loss was twenty-lour kil- 
led, one hundred and fifteen wounded,, and stveiily 
four made prisoners: the killed, wounded and pri- 
soners of the enemy v;ere not less than four hundred. 
This action for lioldn^ss of conception, and by the 
wisdom of the policy, and the importance of the resuU 
does infinite credit to the American leader. The 
British had believed that once landed, they should 
move forward to the easiest of conquests over raw 
militia and untried regulars. They were arrested and 
disconcerted, and Jackson improved the interval of 
their hesitation and cautious preparation, to strengthen 
his works and org.anize the state militia who were 
arriving every day.. The canal fronfmg the li»e was 
deepened and widened, a stroag wall or earth built, 
the levee cut almost a hundred yards H^low, embrasures 
piercd. Sec. Having made these and various other 
important and judicious arrangments; and possessing-, 
Si} hs. remarked ''a rampart of high minded and brave 



^y^ LIFE OF JACKSON. 

men,*' he felt and jexpressed a degree of confiden. 
which animated even the recruits who were strangeri> 
to him and to every kind ot miikary service. 

The enemy were abundantly active on their side 
though at first ignorant of his situation and designs. 
They brought up in the direction of their encampment, 
their artillery, bombs and ammunition. By means of 
a battery which they erected in the night of the 27th, 
they destroyed the American armed schooner Caroline, 
lying under the opposite shore. Gathering hardihood 
from this circumstance, which in fact, deprived Jack- 
son of a material aid, the) left their encampment and 
moved towards the American lines. Their numbers- 
had been increased and sir Edward Packcnham, their 
commander in chief, led them in person on the 28tb' 
December, to storm the works.. Their heavy artilery 
discharged showers of bombs, balls, and rockets. 
These it v/as thought would t-nsure success; and they 
were moving forward with all the pride and pomp o0 
war, when the American batteries opened and caused 
their advance to halt. The conflict continued in seve- 
ral quarters until the assailants, being too roughly 
handled, abandoned for a time, the general attack which' 
they meditated. One hundred and twenty of them were 
killed and wounded; the loss of the Americans did not ; 
exceed nine killed and eight or ten wounded. 

While Jackson and his comrades were thus bravely^ 
fepelling the foe, a panic seized the legislature of New 
Orleans, Apprized that it was secretly agitated to-^ 
oflFef terms of capitulation, he directed the governor to* 
arrest the members and hold them subject to his fur- 
ther orders, the moment the project of surrendering 
should be fully disclosed. The governor at once placed- 
an armed force at the door of the capitol; prevented 
the members from convening, h thus stiEed whatever 
schemes might have been proposed. Various and- 
3cl rewd devices were practiced by Jackson to conceal 
from the enemy the comparative paucity of this force. 
?.Lid the miserable dearth ol arms in his camg. Ero:* 



UiFE OF JACKSON. 



^ag 



■ tne gei-icral government no supply of arms and ord- 
nance had been received, except one boatload brought 
down the Mississippi by general Carroll. 

Skirmishes tilone, by advanced parti -s, occurred for 
several days after the attack of ih^. ^8th Dec. The 
British were encamped two miles below the American 
army, oo a perfect plain, and in full view. In the 
interval between the period just mentioned and the 1st 
of January, they were busy in prcparis^g for another 
assault on an enlarged scale. An iinpcnetrai^le fog 
prevailed during the night of the 31st, a>id until nine 
oVlcjck the following morning: when that was dis- 
pelled, there stood disclosed to the Americans, several 
heavy batteries, at the distance of six hundred yards, 
mounting eighteen twenty-four pound <:arrunades.o 
These were immedEateJy opent:d by the British, and a 
tremendous discharge' of anilltry, accontpanitvd by 
Congreve rockets, -was masned uniill near noon. A 
vast number of ball|> were directed against the building 
in which Jackson ivas believed to be in. It was bat- 
tered into a heap of ruitvs, but the general, accordmg 
to his custom, had repaired to the line as soon as he 
heard the sound of the enemy's cannon. The roar of 
the American guns proved that there would be a vig~ 
orous defence: and with such effect were they man- 
aged, that the British batteries ^ese disabled; and 
the assailants compelled to retire, by three o'clock, 
despairing of a breach in the line, and astonished at 
the precision with which the ^'Yankees" threw their 
shut. An advance was made upon -general Cc ffee-s 
brigade, in order to turn the left, but with no better 
success. To be prepared against all contingenrles 
Jackson had established another lin<* oi d«^fence about 
two miles in the rear, and where his unarn^ed troojTS 
^no inconsiderable number) were stationed as a shew 
of strength. 

On the 4th oT January, arri-ved the long espe-cted 
reinforcement from Kentucky, amountmg to two thou» 
■sand two hundred and fifty men, of whom about five 
'liundred had muskets, and the rest ^unsp Ixom wlvicl^ 



•^OJ OFE OF JACKSJ3N. 

^little or no service could be anticipated. New OrlesiiS 
had been previously searched for weapons and strip° 
vpfcd of whatever were discovered. The British were 
at the same time reim^orce'd in a much more satisfac- 
tory way for them. Now approached the great ane! 
last struggle. General Jackson, unmoved by appear- 
atices, anxiously desired it — he st-ldem slept — he was 
always at his post, that theyc might be no relaxation of 
vigiiance on any sine* 

Oq the memorable 8th of Jamicm}, the signals, in- 
tended to produce concert in the enemy's move-ments, 
were descried at'drivvn: They were prepared to storm 
the line, and the charge was made with so much celer- 
ity that the American soldiers at the out posts had 
starcely time to fly in. Showers oi bombs and 
balls were poured from new batteries. The two Brit- 
ish divisions commanded by Sir Edward Packenhami 
in person, pressed forward. A thick log enabled 
them to approach within a short distance of the 'm- 
trenchments before they were discovered: but this cir- 
cumstance ensured ihem defeat and deslruction. The 
American artillery and small arms, discharged in a 
continual volley, mowed down thtir works and ar- 
rested their progress. The fatal aim of the western 
marksmen was never €o tenibiy exemplined. Sir 
Edward Packenham, seeing that his troops wavered 
and receded, hastened lo the front, but quickly fell 
mortally vv^ounded, in the arms of his aid-de-carr p„ 
<7enerais Gibbs and Keene were also dangerously 
hurt and borne from the field, which by this time was 
strewed with dead and dying. The British columns, 
often broken and driven back, were iepeatedlv formed 
and urged forward anew. Convinced at last that 
nothing could be Hccomplished, ^hey at>andoned the 
contest, and a general and dismderlv retreat ensued. 
One American redoubt was carried by superior n urn- 
'foers, but quickly evacuated under the fire of the rifle- 
men at the line. So great w is the carnage of t'bi: 
SfiiisJa; so perilous the disorder into which they Vf-^tt 



iilFE OF JACKSON. 2§M 

^hr6wn, fhat had arms been possessed by -that large 
portion of the American militia who had remained 
inactive and useless for the want of them, the ivhotc 
British force must have s^irrendered. But, under 
the peculiar circumstances of the case, Jackson was 
unable to attempt, without extreme rashness, a pursuk 
of the vanquished. He adopted the safe alternative 
of continuing in his position. 

According to General Lambert^s official report of 
the afFiiir of the ^ih, the British loss, in the main at« 
tack on the left bank of the river, amounted to up- 
wards of two thousand men, in killed, wounded and 
prisoners. It may be estimated at nearly t/ir€e thoU" 
sand^ while that of the Americans was but thirteen^ 
The fffectite force of the latter at the line of the left 
bank, was three thousand seven hundred — that of the 
enemy at least nine thousand. The whole force land- 
ed from the British ships in Louisiana is believed to 
bave been about fourteen thousands The British 
Commander in Chief, and Major General Gibbs died 
of their wounds, besides many ot the most valued 
and distinguished British officers. On the ninth the 
enemy requested and obtained an armistice of some 
hours to bury their dead^ 

After the action ot the 8th the American batteries 
were continually throwing balls, and bombs, into the 
British camp. Harrassed, dismayed, and enfeebled, 
that once powerful army which was to arrive at New 
Orleans by a prtmrose path, and hold in subjectionr 
all the lower region of the Mississippi, took a final 
and furtive leave in the night of the 18th of January, 
and embarked in their shipping for the West Indies^. 
Thus ended the mighty invasion, in twenty -six days 
after the foreign standard hadlbeen exultingly planted 
on the bank of the Mississippi. Thus triumphed 
General Jackson^ by a wonderful combination of bold" 
oess and prudence; energy and adroitness, desperate 
fortitude and anxious patriotism. 

Though the enemy had withdrawn from NtW Qr- 



MO'B 



LIFE OF JACHSOl.. 



leans in the manner which has been stated, Jackson 
could not be sure that they would not return. Against 
this contingency, he prepared himself by cautious ar- 
rangements ill the distribution of his force and the 
construction of new defences at assailable points, be- 
fore he returned to New Orleans. In that city he 
was received as a deliverer — almost every mind was 
Icindled to enthusiasm from the consideration of the 
evils which he had averted, as well as of the victories 
which he had gained. The most solemn and lively 
demonstrations of public respect and gratitude suc- 
ceeded each other daily, until the period of his de- 
parture for Nashville soon after the anunciation of the 
peace concluded at Ghent bevwcen Great Britain and 
the United States. Though honoured and cherished 
by the larger part of the citizens, he was not, however 
without occasion to display the energy and decision of 
his character in a way that favoured the ends of jeal- 
ousy and detraction. Anonymous articles calcukted to 
excite mutiny among the troops and aiTord the enemy 
dangerous intelligence, having appeared in one of the 
newspapers of New Orleans, he caused the author to 
be revealed to him by the editor of the paper. He found 
that the offender was a meraberof the Legislature, but 
this circumstance did not prevent him from ordering 
his arrest and detention for trial. Application was 
made to one of the Judges for a writ of Habeas Cor° 
pus and it was immediately issued. We have already 
mentioned that Jackson arrested the Judge also and 
sent him from the city. We new advert again to-this 
incident, in order to relate the sequel. The General 
had not yet raised the edict of martial law, there be- 
ing no certain intelligence of peace or of the departure 
of the enemy from the coast. Within a few days the 
cessation of hostilities was officially announced. The 
iudge was restored to his post and the exercise of his 
functions. V/ithout loss of time a rule of court was 
granted for General Jackson to appear and show cause 
why an attachment Jorconteinpt should not issuc^ oc 



LIFE OF JACK30W. 



%0T 



;hte ground that he had refused to obey a writ and im- 
prisoned the organ of the law. He did not hesitate 
to appear and submit a full and very able answer, jus« 
tifying his proceedings. After argument before the 
Court, the rule was made absolute; an attachment 
sued out, and Jackson brought up to answer interrog- 
atories. He declined answering themj but asked for 
the sentence, which the Judge then proceeded to pass. 
It was a fine of one thousand dollars^ The specta- 
tors who crowded the hall betrayed the strongest in- 
dignation. -As soon as he entered his carriage, ie 
was seized by the people and drawn by them to the 
coffee house, amid the acclamations of a large con<» 
course. When he arrived at his quarters, he put the 
amount of his fine into the hands of his aid*de-camp2> 
and caused it to be discharged without delay. He 
was scarcely beforehand with the citizens, who in a 
short time raised the sum among themselves, by con- 
tribution, and w^ere anxious to be permitted to testify 
at once their gratitude and shame. What was thus 
collected was appropriated at his request to a charita- 

the powers which the exigency of the times forced hini 
to assume, had been exercised exclusively for the 
public good and that they had saved the country. In 
1821, the Corporation of New Orleans voted fifti^ 
thousand dollars for erecting a marble statue appro- 
priate to his military services. The same body gave 
also one thousand dollars for a portrait of him painted 
by Mr. Earle of Nashville. Thus the miserable fine 
may be said to have been obliterated. 

On his return to Nashville — a journey of eigh^ 
hundred miles — he saw on every side marks of exul- 
tation and delight, it must be within the memory oi 
most of our readers, what was the sensation produced 
^hroughoutkhe union by the tidings from New Orleans,, 
and what the popular enthusiasm concerning the mer" 
atsof ^* Old Hipkory." 

For twoy^ars afterwards he remaiaed on his farm. 



1§S 



MFE OF JACKrSOl^. 



arsLta^iug bis rank in the arTrvy, but chiefly occupied 
^itlhiifEral pleasures and labors. la this interval, tha 
pQStionSi of the Stjnvinoks who we?e driven into Fieri- 
fia, eombining with fugitive negroes from the adjoin- 
inj^ states, atid instigated by British advemurers wliosa 
©bjects were blood and rapine, becanoe fornnidable in 
jQunfibers and hardihood, and began to execute schemes 
©f robbery and vengeance against the Americans cf 
the frontiers. It having been represented to the Ame- 
rican government that naurders had been committed 
<on our defenceless citizens, General Gaines, the actr 
. ang commander in the southern district, was ordered 
an the summer of 1817, with a considerable force, to 
take a station near the borders for their protection, 
He was at first directed to keep within ihc territorial 
limits of the United States, and abstai from every 
attempt to cross the Florida line; bat to demand of 
the Indians, the perpetrators of the crimes thus cotw^ 
mitted, without involving the innocent, and withoi>t 
a general rupture with the deluded savages. Such 
smurders having been ascertained to have been coni- 
«»itted, attended wkh aggravating circumstances O'f 
arapine and cruelty, General Gaines, in conformity 
with his orders, made the demand. The savages 
through the deceptive representations of foreign inr 
«endiaries, were led to believe that the strength of the 
United States was not sufficient to subdue them; ot\ 
if their own forces, were incompetent to sustain the 
conflict, they would receive assistance from the Brit- 
ash. The promises made by unauthorised agent;?, 
were founded upon a pretence that the United State.s 
Jiad bound themselves, by the treaty of Ghent, to le- 
store the lands which the Indians had ceded at FoH 
Jackson, previously to that treaty; and that the Brit- 
ish government would enforce its observance. Under 
this infl'ience they not only refused to deliver the 
maurderers, but repeated their massacres whenever 
opportunity oifered; and, to evade the arm of justice,, 
took rtifuge across the line, in Florida. In this SLtat^ 



LIFE 0¥ JACKSON* ^09 

of aftairs in November 1817", Lieut. Scott, of the Uo 
3. army under Gen. Gaines, with 47 persons, men, wo- 
men, and children, in a boat, on the Appalachicola 
river, about a mile below the junction of the Fhnt and 
Cohatahoochie, v/as surprised by an ambuscade of 
Indians, fired upon, and the v/hole detachment, killed 
and taken by the Indians, except six men v^ho es- 
caped by flight. Those v^ho v;ere taken alive, were 
wantonly murdered by the ferocious savages, who 
seized the little children and dashed out their brains 
against the side of the boat, and butchered all ihc 
helpless females except one, who was afterv/ards re- 
taken. General Gaines v/as not yet authorised to 
cross into Floridaj to enforce a compliance with his 
demand for the delivery of the murderers, while \he 
Indians v/ere collecting in large numbers upon the 
3ine, which they seemed to think a perfect safeguard, 
and from which they continued their predatory excur- 
sions. A letter from the Secretary of War, of the 
9th of Dec. 1817, authorised General Gaines, in case 
^his state of things should continue, and it should be- 
come impossible b> any other means, to prevent their 
depredations, to exercise a sound discretion as to 
crossing the Florida line, in order to break up theisr 
establishments! and on the i6th of the same month^ 
the Secretary of War, by Iciter, directed to General 
Gaines, fully authorised him to cross the line, and at- 
tack the Indians within the Spanish territory, should 
they still refuse to make reparation for depredataons 
already committedo 

Intelligence being received by the war departmenS 
of the massacre of Lieutenant Scott and his compan- 
ions. General Jackson was directed, by letter of the 
SSth December, J.817, to repair to Fort Scott, and 
Sake command of the forces in that quarter^ with au- 
thority, in case he should deem it necessary v toeall' 
upon the executives of the adjacent states for addition- 
5il force/- He vtras referred to the pre^ioGs orders giv- 
CJ3 $G ^aeralGaiaesj., and directed so coaeoa^jstei^iife 



^iO LIFE •F JACKSON. 

forces^ and adopt ''the measures necessary to terminNati? 
a conflict which had been avoided from considerations 
of humanity, but which had now become indispensa- 
ble, from the settled hostility of the savage enemy.*' 
In January following, the Secretary of War, in a let- 
ter to general Gaines, said, *'The honor of the United 
States requires,, that the war with the Seminolcs 
should be terminated speedily, and with exemplary 
punishment for hostihties. so unprovoked." Under 
the^e orders, and in this critical state of affairs, gener- 
al Jackson, having first collected Tenoessee volunteers, 
with that zeal and promptness which have ever mark- 
ed his career, repaired to the post assigned, and as- 
sumed the cammand» The necessity of crossing the 
line into Florida was no longer a subject of doubt» 
A large force of Indians and negroes had made that 
territory their refuge, and the Spanish authority was 
either too weak or too indifferent to restrain them^ 
and to comply with orders given him from the depart- 
ment ol war, be penetrated immediately into the Sem- 
inole townsj, driving the enemy before him, and reduc- 
ed them to ashes. In the council house of the king 
of the Mickasukians, more than 50 frtsh scalps, and 
m an adjacent house, upwards of 300 old scalps, ol all 
ages and sexes, were, found; and in the centre of the 
public square a red pole was erected, ^crowned with 
scalps, known by the hair to have belonged to the 
(Companions of lieut. Scotr^ 

To inflict merited punishment upon the barbarians, 
and to prevent a repetition of these massacres, by 
bringing the war to a speedy and successful terminal 
tion, he pursued his march to St. Marks: there he 
found, conformably to previous information that the 
Indians and negroes demanded the surrender of the 
post to them; and that the Spanish garrison, accord- 
ing to the commandant^s own acknowledgment, was 
too weak to support it. He ascertained also that the 
<8nemy had been supplied with the means of carryinij 
on the war, from the com^mandant of the post; thaS: 
-%s%a mGendiariesj insii^aiing^ the savages^ had free 



tiFE OF JACKSU^N. 



^ii^ 



<romnaui\icauon with the fort; counclh of war were 
perittitted by the commandant to be held by the chiefs 
and warriors within his own quarters; the Spanish 
btorehouses were appropriated to the use ot the hostile 
party, and actually filled wiib goods belonging to them 
and property, known to have been plundered Irom 
American citizens, was purchased from thtm by the 
commandant, while he professed friendship to the U. 
States. General Jackson, therefore, had no hesita- 
tion to demand of the commandant of St. Marks, the 
surrenJer of th'vt post, that it might be garrisoned with 
an American force, and, when the Spanish officer hes- 
itated to deliver it, he entered the fort by force, 
though without-bloodshed, the enemy having fled, and 
the garrison too weak to make opposition. Convinc- 
ed of the necessity of rapid movements, in regard to 
the ultimate success of the expedition, he immediately 
marched his forces to Suwany, seized upon the stores 
of the enemy and burnt their villages. 

A variety of circumstances convinced Gen. Jackson 
that the savages had commenced their v/ar, and per- 
sisted in their bari>arities; under the influence of some 
foreign incendiaries, more crimmal than the unciviliz- 
ed natives, t^llexander AvhutUnot^ who avowed him- 
self a British subject and resided among the savages 
as an Indian trader, was taken at St. Marks, to which 
place he had withdrawn as danger approached, and 
was living as an inmate in the family of the comman- 
dant. It appearing that he had been a zealous advo- 
cate for the pretended rights of the savages, and in this 
respect the successor of the notorious Colonel Nich- 
ols, of the British Colonial Marines? that he had re- 
peatedly written in their behalf to the Spanish Gover^ 
iior of St. Augustine, the Governor of Bahamas, the 
British minister in the United States, and to Colonel 
Nichols, endeavouring to prorure aid from both tho.se 
governors against the United States,* that he S ad re- 
peatedly advised the Indians not to comply with the 
treaty of Fort JacksoDj assuring thera that the laads 



JLIFE OF JACKSON: 



cede^ to the United States by them in 1814, were to 
be restored by virtue of the treaty of peace with Greae 
Britain. Gen. Jackson ordered him to be tried by a 
Court ot Enquiry, consisting of IS respectable officers, 
uith Major Geii. Gaines, as president. Upon satis=> 
factory testimony, he was convicted of inciting and 
stirring up the hostile Creeks to war against the Unit- 
ed States and her citizens,' and of aiding, abbettingo 
and comforting the enemy, supplying them with 
means of war; and by the Court was sentenced fo h& 
hung. — Rohert C. Amhrisl€i\ late a Lieuienant of the 
Sritish Marine corps, and with the hostile Indians 
and fugitive negroes the successor of Woodbine, of 
aotorioas memory, was taken near the mouth of Suwa 
ney river., It being well known that he had been a 
leader and coRjmander of the hostile Indians and fugi- 
tive slaves, Gen. Jackson ordered him to be tried by 
the same Court Martial. Upon abundant evidence he 
also v/as convicted of having aided and comforted the 
enemy, supplying them with the means of war- by giv- 
ing them intelligence of the movements and operations 
of the army of the United Stales, j^nd by sending the 
Indians and Negroes to meet and fjght against them; 
and upon his own confession, as well as the clearest 
proof of his having ltd and commanded the lower 
Creeks in carrying on tke war against the United 
States, he was by the Court sentenced to he shot. 
One of the members hov/ever requesting a reconsider^ 
ation of the sentence, it was agreed to| ard on a revi- 
sion, the Court sentenced him- to receive BO stripes on 
his bare back, and be confined with a ball and chain to 
hard labour for 12 calender months* Gen, Jackson 
approved the sentence in the cas<; of Arbuthnot: and, 
in the case of Ambrister, he disapproved the recon- 
sideration, and confirmed the first sentense^ They 
were both executed accordingly^ 

Having thus far effected his object^^ Geti. Jackscra 
considered the v/ar at an end9. St. Marks being gar^ 
arisosed by aa AmeriGas^ forcej. the Miac towas al 



LIFE OF J ACKSONC. ^ ^ ^ 

Miekasulcy and Suwaney destroyed; the fwo Indian 
chiels who had been the prime movers and leaders o£ 
the savages, one of whom had commanded the party 
who murdered Lieutenant Scott and his companions, 
and the two principal foreign instigators, Arburihnot 
and Ambrister, having been taken and executed, the 
American commander ordered the Georgia militia, 
who had joined him, to he discharged, and was aboul 
to return t© Tennessee* But he soon learned that the 
Indians and negroes were collecting in bands west of 
the Appalachico'a; which would render it necessary 
for him to send a detachment to scour the country in 
that quarter. While preparing for this object, he was 
informed that the Indians were admitted freely by the 
Governor of Pensaccla; that they were collecting in 
large numbers, 500 being in Pensacola on the 15th o£ 
April, manv of whom were known to be hoitile, and 
had just escaped from the pursuit of our troops; that 
the efiemy wasfurished with ammunition and supplies^ 
and received intelligence of the laovemeats of our for- 
ces, from thaiplace; that a number of ihem had sallied 
out and murdered 18 of oar citizens, settlers, upon the 
Alabama, and were immediately received by the Go° 
vernor, and by him transported across the bay, th»ir 
they might elude pursuit. 

These facts beiag ascertained by gen, Jackson from 
unquestionable authority, he immediately took up his 
line of march towards Pensacola, at the head of a de- 
tachment of about 1200 men, for the purpose of coun- 
teracting the views oi the enemy. On the 18th of 
May, he crossed the Appalachicola at the Ocheese 
village with the viev; of scouring the country west of 
that river; and, on the 23d of the same month, he re- 
ceived a communication from the government oi U'est 
Florida, protesting against his entrance into that pro- 
vince, commanding him to retire from it, and declar- 
ing that he would repel force by force, if he should 
not obey. This communication, together with otbei* 
iijdicationsof hostility in the governor, who had bce^. 



^^'^'- LIFE OF JACKSON' 

well advised of the object of general Jackson's opers* 
tions, determined the measures to be pursued. He 
marched directly for Pensacola, and took possession 
of that place on the fallowing day, the governor having 
flA^d to fort Carlos de Barrancas: which post, after a 
feeble resistancej was also surrendered on the 28th. 
By these events, the Indians and fugitive negroes 
were effectually deprived of all possible means of con- 
tmaing their depredations, or screaning themselves 
from the arm of justice. They were so scattered and 
reduced as to be no logger a formidable enemy; but 
as there were still many small marauding parties sup- 
posed to be concealed an the swamps, who might make 
sudden and murderous inroads upon the American 
frontier settlers, Jackson called in two companies 
of volunteer rangers, with instructions to scour the 
country between Mobile and Appalachicola rivers. 
Thus ended the campaign and the seminole war. The 
severest hardships were undergone by the troops and 
their general with the utmost fortitude. They did not 
encounter any considerable bands-©f the foe, though 
the latter had been embodied to the number of two 
thousand; but the kind of warfare which they were 
compelled to wage was on that account the more ex° 
haustingand arduous. 

Jackson returned to Nashville in June, 1818, to 
the beloved retirement of his farm. New acknow- 
ledgments and new marks of ad.niration were be- 
stowed upon him in every part of the Union. If the 
general government deemed it expedient to restore 
St. Marks and Pensacola to the Spanish authorities. 
it yet applauded aixl defended what he had done. The 
British cabinet, after full inquiry, resolved to abslaio, 
from all complaint respecting the execution of Ar- 
buthnot and Ambrister. They declared that these 
culprits had leagued with the Indians, and acted at 
their own peril. The conduct of the Tennessee war- 
s-ior was, however, destined to the most vehemently 
arraigned and rigidly scrutinized in another quanci^- 



■IIVF. OP JACKSON. 



21 S 



Parties were formed in different parts of the country 
respecting the propriety of the occupation of the Span- 
hh fortr<iSses, and the execution of the British incen- 
diaries. In the month of January, 1818, in the house 
of representatives of the United States, a committee 
rej)ortt:d a resolution disapproving the latter of those 
acts; and a mpn>ber moved another resolution, con- 
demning thi? itrm^r of them. These resolutions 
gave rise to a most elaborate debate, which was pro- 
tracted tbroivgh many weeks, and in which Jackson 
and the executive department were attacked and de- 
fended vv'ith the utmost zeal and signal ability. Every 
proposition to condemn cither was finally rejected by 
a sonsiderable majority of the house, arid reprobated 
by a much larger majority of the people, 1 he most 
eloquent of the orators who supported the resolutions, 
proclaimed that *'he most cheerfully and entirely ac- 
quitted the general of any intention to violate the laws 
of his countrys or the obligations of humanity," Who- 
ever studies Jackson's ample and argumentative deS" 
patches^ and the speeches delivered in his behalf, must 
be convinced that he did neither, and that in making 
an example of th;; t»vo instigators and confederates of 
the savages, and seizing upon fortresses, which were 
only used for hostile purposes, he avenged and served 
the cause of humanity and the highest national interest. 
His desire of explaining his transactions in person-, 
to the government, and defending himselt -on every 
side, carried him to Washington at this period. 
Thence he came to Philadelphia, and proceeded to 
Kew'York. Wherever he appeared, crowds attend- 
ed with unceasing plaudits. In each ot these cities 
public dinners and balls were given in his '^onor; mil- 
itary escorts provided; addresses delivered by deputa^ 
tions; and to these his ans\vers were uniformly perti- 
nent and dignified. At New York, on the 19rh Feb- 
ruary, be received the freedom ol the city in u gold 
boxj and there as well as in Baltinore, the municipal 
c©ijncils requested, and obUiiied his portrait, to b«^ 



^ i S LIFE OF JACKSON. 

placed in tbeir halls. While he was on this excursibn, 
^ report, connected with the history of the Seminote 
war, and extremtly hostile to his character, utjs madti 
frosn a Co.nmittee of the Sdiiatc ot the United States. 
It had not the concurrence of the ablest members of 
the comtriittee, and it was brought forward at tob 
laie a period of the session of Congress to be discuss- 
edy Nothing more was supposed to be meant by its 
author than to cast an indictment before the public. 
It was repelled triumphantly, in a defence which was 
published in the National Intelligencer, on the 5th of 
March, and which has been ascribed to gt-neral Jack- 
son. He f^lt deeply imputations which he knew to bs 
not only false but utterly irreconcilable with his nature. 
The issue of all the reports and harangues was such as 
-might give additional comfort to his domestic hours 
on his return to his farm» where he enjoyed again a 
period of repose. 

When the treaty wltli Spain ceding the Florid&s 
was finally ratified, Congress passed a law empoweY- 
ingthe President to vest in such person or persons as 
he might select, all the military civil and judicial au- 
thority exercised by the officers of fhe Spanish govern- 
ment. The president, under this law, appointed gen, 
Jackson, to act first as commisaioner for receiving 
the Provinces, and then to assume the government of 
them. It was intended atad expressed that the Ame- 
rican Governor should exercise all the functions be- 
longing 10 the Spanish Governors, Captain Generals, 
^nd Intecdants, until Congress should provide a sys^ 
iem of administration as in the instances of thp other 
territories. 

The selectionof JaclcsfCn was not a mere mark of ho- 
nour, 6r testimonial of public gratitude. His intimate 
-acquaintance with the country and the energy of his 
nature recommended him specially for the post of 
Governor. Florida was over run with desperadoes 
of every description; it was a resort of ^ motley hordt 
of speculators, smugglers ©f negroes, -and advetfttar^ 



LIFE OF JACKSON, '•^IJ 

ers of^ali nations; it had become the theatre of com- 
plicated intrigue and misrule. His personal reputa- 
nion was calculated to overawe corruption and vio- 
lence; his infiexibiUy and activity in repressing all 
disorder and spoil were sure grounds of reliance for 
the President. It was not without reluctance he ac- 
cepted this nev/ and almost absolute civil command 
invoh ing an arduous task and a delicate responsibility. 
But having acceded, from a sense of duty, to the nom- 
ination, he repaired to bis station with his usual 
promptitude. On the first of July, 1821, he issued 
at Pensacola, his proclamation announcing that pos° 
session had been taken of the territory, and the au- 
thority of the United States established in it under his 
commission. He adopted at once rigorous measures 
for the introduction of a regular and efficacious ad- 
ministration of affairs. Courts were organized; a 
polirc was instituted, and such a scheme of territorial 
division adopted as was required for the convenience 
of the inhabitants and the speedy execution of the laws.. 
An occasion arising out of the previous and prescrip- 
tive laxity of prmciple and perversion of right in the 
provinces, soon presented itself for the exertion of his 
official powers and gc-nerous sympathies. 

The treaty with Spain prescribed that all documents 
relating to property or sovereignty shx)uld be left in 
possession of the American authorities. On the 22d 
August, a petition was submitted to the Governor, 
in his capacity of the highest judicial magistrate from 
the American alcade, or keeper of archievcs, that 
certain public documents or records, required by in- 
dividuals to enable thenr) to prosecute their elaims to 
property, were unlawfully detained in the hands of a 
person of the name of Sousa. The governor issued 
his commission to three officers, to wait on Sousa and 
request him to exhibit and deliver yp all such docu- 
ments in his possession. Sousa exhibited two open 
boxes of papers which he affirmed had been entrustt<2 
to iiis care for safe keeping by the late Spani&h gov^ 
19 



"^iS LIFE OF JACKSCm. 

ernor, colonel Callava. The boxes when examined 
were found to contain the documents wanted and oth- 
er records of suits for property between individuals. 
All t^ese were demanded by the oiEcers, but refused 
by Sousa, who promised, however, to consult colond. 
Callava, These facts being reported to general Jack- 
son, he issued a summons to Sousa to appear before 
liim, in case he persisted in retaining the papers. The 
answer given was, that the papers had been sent to 
■colonel Callava, and were in the latter's house. Two 
of the official family of the American governor were 
then directed by him to repair with the alcade to Cal- 
lava's dwelling, to demand the papers, and if they 
were refused, to require both Callava and his steward 
v/ho had received them from Sousa, to appear before 
the Governor. The Spaniard insisted at first upon 
retaining the papers, and eftt^r promising to surrender 
them, when a list was furnished, and tailing to do so, 
and obstinately refusing to obey the summons in any 
manner, he was finally conducted under guard to ihs 
office of the Governor. When there he was informed 
of the nature and propriety of the demand made upon 
him, and apprized that the further v/ithhclding of the 
papers would be regarded as a contempt of the Gov- 
ernor's jtidicial authority; and subject him to impri- 
-sonment. He would do nothing but dictate proteste, 
%vhen the patience of Jackson being exhausted, he, his 
steward and Sousa were committed to prison, until 
the papers should be obtained. 

The next morning the boK in which the papers had 
'been seen was seized and opened by officers specially 
commissioned. It had been carefully sealed by Cal- 
lava, and was found to contain what was sought. Cal- 
lava and his companioa were then released from jail. 
Th« records thus recovered relattd ta the estate of a 
person who died at Pensacola, about the year 18Q7, 
having made his will, and bequeathed his property to 
several orphan females, who had never receuved any 
^portion of it, owing to the ilishonesty of the individa- 



LIFE OF JACKSON, 

a!tj, who were at the same time its depositories and 
debtors. Callava himself had made decrees in iavour 
of the heirs, which were discovered in the box and 
had been suppressed under corrupt influtnce. It was 
hh object to carry off all the evidence necessary for re- 
dress. He afterwards published in the American pa° 
pers an exposition of the treatment vz-hich he had esj^ 
perienced, and was convicted in due time of various 
misrepresentations by the counter statements of the re- 
spectable gentlemen who were employed in the afFarc 
by the governor. H^ claimed for himself the immu^ 
nities of an ambassador, having acted as the deputy 
of the Capram General of Cuba, in surrendering the 
Floridas. But as his quality of com-missioner had 
ceased when the surrender was completed, Jackson 
could view hinr only in the light of a private indi- 
vidual charged with violating both public and private 
rights, and determined to set the supreme judicatory 
at defiance. To have allowed the wrong which was 
designed to be committed, would have been utterly 
inconsistent with what was due to the dignity and 
power of the United States, and the claims of op- 
pressed individuals whose sex and situation particular- 
ly entitled them to protection and sympathy. The 
just language of Jackson, narrating and justifying his 
proceedings to the President, was=~" When men of 
high standing attempt to trample upon the rights of 
ihe weak, they aie the fittest objects for example oc 
punishment. In general the great can protect them- 
selves; but the poor and humble require the arm and 
shield of the law." Among the civil officers sent to 
Florida, by the President, was a former senator of the 
United States, Elegiua Fromentin, who went in the 
capacity of a judge, with a jurisdiction limited to 
cases that might arise under the Revenue Laws, and 
the acts of Congress prohibiting the introduction of 
slaves. This gentleman consented rashly, at the in- 
stigation of some of the friends of Callava, to issue 
the writ of haleas corpys to extricate the Spaniard 



^^0 MFE OP JACKSON.. 

from confinement. The general Judiciary Act forthe^ 
United Slates under which alone the Judge could 
claim the right of thus intt^rfering, had not been ex- 
tended to the Floridaso Jackson displayed his char- 
acteristic decision and intelligence m this case — he 
cited the Judge to appear beL^re him and answer to 
the charge of a contempt of the superior court and a 
serious misdemeanor. The prisoner was released, 
the papers having been obtained, before Mr. Fromen- 
tin vvas able to present himself pursuant to the sum- 
mons. The General was then content with deficing 
to him the limits of his competency as Judge, and ut- 
tering a severe rebuke of his precipitation. Very bit- 
ter complaints were afterwards made by both parties 
to the executive department at WashingtoOo 

This event was not the end of the Callava case, as 
it has been called. Several Spanish officers who had 
remained with the ex-governor in the province ven- 
tured to publish in a Pensacola paper, an article with 
their signatures, in which they accused the general of 
violence and tyranny. It was stipulated in the treaty 
of cession, that all the Spanish officers should be with- 
drawn from the territories ceded, within six months 
after the ratification of the treaty. More than this 
ternr. had elapsed. Jackson issued his proclamation 
without delav, commanding them, as trespassers and 
disturbers of the public peace, to depart in the course 
of a week. They had not the folly to remain. About 
the same period, important documents and archives, 
which the Spaniards had no right to detain, were at- 
tempted to be withheld by the ex*governor of East 
JFlorida, Jackson, on hearing of this attempt, trans- 
mitted, by mall, his orders to take forcible possession 
of them, which was done accordingly. The ex-gov- 
crnor protested; but upon insufficient grounds, and 
with personal disgrace* 

These occurrences produced much discussion in the 
newspapers, and vehement remonstrances from the 
Minister Fienipotenuary of Spsin in this country. 



LIFE OFJACKSGN. 

Jackson's interpretation of his own powers, and those 
of Judge Fromentin, and his measures to prevent the 
abduction ot the papers, were ratified and full) vindi- 
cated by the American gr>vernmento The undue in- 
fluence which the Spanish officers contrived to raise 
in iheir favour, with the assistance of the General's 
personal enemies, soon subsided after the facts and re** 
spective rights became better known* On the 1th ok 
October, Jackson delegated his powers to two gentle^ 
jnen, the sectaries ol his government, and set out on 
his return to Nashville, In his dignified and argu° 
mentative valedictory address to the citizens of Flori= - 
da, he informed them he had completed the temporary 
organization of the two pro\inces» He stated, and 
justified his motives for acting as he had done in the 
case of Gailava. "With the exception ol this instance'^ 
added he, " I feel the utmost confidence in sayings 
that nothing has occurred, notwithstanding the nu° 
merous cases in which I have been called upcr '(in- 
terpose m) authority, either in a judicial or 'executive 
capacity, to occasion any thing like distrust or dis«» 
content. 

The injury which his health had suffered; from the " 
personal hardships, inevitable in his campaigns, for- 
bade him to protract his residence in Florida.' Before 
bis departure he re<:eived from the citizens spontanea - 
ous public manifestations of esteem and gratitudco ^ 
Attempts were made at the ensuing session of Con^ 
gress, to obtain a condemnation of his conduct towards 
Callava, but they utterly failed, both with the Legisla° 
tare and the people. On the 4ith of July, 18-22, the 
governor of Tennessee, by order of the Legislature^ , 
presented him with a sword as a testimonial *<of the 
high respect" entertained by the state for his public 
servioeso Abd ot^ the 20th of Aug ist, of the same - 
year, the nriembers of the General Assembly of Ten*"- 
Ejessee recommended him to the Union for the office - 
of Pt-esident^— a recommendation which has been re« - 
!5cated by the Legislature of Alabama. andFarJOUS-* 



iil^t 



LIFE OP JAeKEON, 



assemblages of private citizens in other parts of th:: 
country. In the autumn of IS^S*, he was elected to 
^hc Senate of the United Stat?a» in which body he has 
taken bis seato Social honours-are^ heaped upon him 
at Washington, and fresh evidence is daily transn\itted 
ihither, of the high Cbtiniiation in which he is held at a 
distance. In the south-wtstern, and some of the sou- 
thern states, and in Pennsylvania he is eminently pop- 
alar. Before his election to the: Senate, he was ap» 
pointed by the President, with the concurrence of the 
Senatep Minister Plenipotentiary to the government. of 
Mexico; but he declined the station from a repugnance 
to the monarchical system which then prevailed in 
Mexico, 9nd to the means by which the supreme pow- 
tr had been- usurped. 

In 1824, General Jackson was generally support- 
?d, as a candidate for the ofBce of Presidifnt of 
the United States, H^ received 3 majority in the 
tlectoral colleges over any of?tbs opposing candidates, 
-but not a c^ajority of the whole, consequently the elec- 
tion d^volv^d' on. congress,, where he iaikdj being ^ 
few votes in the minority. 

Id person, general Jackson \9 tall; and remarkably 
trect and ihix). His weight bears no proportion to his 
height, and his frame, in general, does not appear fitt- 
f^d for trials such as^it has borne.. His features aiie 
large, his eyes dark blue, with a keea and strong 
glanct; his eyebrows arched ;5nd promonent— his com- 
plexion is that of the war-worn soldier*. Kis demea^ 
nor is easy and gentle — -in every station he has been 
founci open and accessible to clK. The irritability of 
Jii« temper,; which is. not denied by his friends, pro* 
duces contrasts in hig, manner and couiitenancc,^ leading 
to very differant conceptiv-ins and represeatations, as to 
bothi but. that natural !?3&rmity. has decreased^ and 
those who have lived. and actt^d with him, hear unani-- 
Kious ^e*ti'Y>onv to iha geBerr^lmildpess of his carriage 
«nd th€ kindness of his disposiiion^ , fjt is- certain hjs^ 
^ iospired.hJs. spjijiisrs, his. railkary hoi^sehflldj^^^.^^^^^ 



LIFE Oy JAGivSON« 



SS3 



dorirestic circle, and his neighbours, with the most af- 
fectionate sentiments,^ 1'he iiiinetuosity ol his nature, 
his impatience of wrong and.eDcroachment, hib con° 
tempt for meanness, and his tenaeioustiess ot just au- 
thority, have involved him iu bitter altercations and 
sanguinary quarrels: — his resentments have been 
fiercely executed, and his censures harshly uUcred; yet- 
he cannot be. accused of wanton or malicious, vioicutje 
the sallies which may be- deemed intemperate can be 
traced to strong provocation, operating, in most In- 
stances, upon his patriotic zeal and the vsry generosi- 
ty and loftiness of his spirit. . He sacrificed the ene- 
mies of his country,.vvhere he deemed that signal ex- 
amples cf^rigQur wera necessary for the public wel- 
fare and, the-lasting suppression of murder and rapine 
' — he was never found wanting inclemency and hu- 
manity towards those whom essential justice and para- 
mount duty allowed him to spare and relieve. Thus, 
after the battle, ofthe Hnrse. Shoey'm the Creek war, 
every Indian warrior- was spared who surrendered 
himself — several of his cwnmea lost their lives in 
endeavouring, by his ordersj-to save some obstinate in^- 
dividu-iUs. who refused to surrender^ although his own 
troops were-: suff^ying,. with hunger, he forbade the 
corn of the Indians to be taken from them^ and caused 
the wounded, among the- lattei' to be dressed and 
nursed as his own. men.. At the battle of Tohopeki>, 
an infantv was. found alive on the breast cf us lifeless 
Indian mother: Jackson directed it to be brought to 
him, and not being al)k to prevail upon any one ol ths 
Indian womeja to undertake the care of it, adopted it 
into his family, and , has ever sines proved a Jcind pro* 
tector to the. orphan* , 

In the various erltieal' Situations ir* which he was • 
placed by cinergencies and the unlimited discretion 
cast up^on hina, he appears^ to have been governed by 
gentiral and solid, priaciples which -he- kn1;who^w :o ap-? 
^'f. satisfactoril)s in. explaining: hj& raeaoarcss. Tha: 
•s^r^ salutary encrg}r aad-decisioawitfe which he ^u^,* 



^^^ LIFE ftp JACKSON. 

sued the course, that he had deliberately concluded io 
be right and necessarv, subjected him to the belief or 
charge of having acted merely from a vehement over- 
bearing, or arbitrary disposition. If his feelings were 
strongly roused and displayed against the timid or 
traitorous portion of the inhabitants of New Orleans 
who would have given the enemy an easy and fatal 
triumph — against the Spanish authorities in Florida 
who served the British and supplied the Seminoles-— 
against Arbuthnot and Ambrister, the unwearied in- 
stigators and inskJious confederates of the Savages 
thirsting for American blood — against the impostor 
prophets, who had directed the butchery of white vvo° 
men and children, and whose occupation it was to in- 
cite dtr^predation and murder — against a Spcwish Gov- 
ernor who would have violated a treaty and despoiled 
orphan females of their inheritance — we may sav that 
both the warmth of those feelings, and the ligour with 
which they were manifested, will not only be excu&ed, 
but even admired by generous minds. 

The copious despatches which General Jaclfson had 
occasion to write to the government, detailing his cam= 
paigns and official proceedings; his numerous address- 
es to his troops, and the statements and arguments, 
which the charges preferred against his ofiicial con- 
durt, compelled him to publish for his justification, 
'vvould altogether, form a sizeable volume. They are 
marked with great energy and fluency of expression^ 
cogent reasoningj* apt reference to general principles, 
and the utmost earnestness and apparent rectitude of 
intention. He v/rites nervously and conspicuouslv^ 
he speaks with facility and force, Grace and refine- 
ment, he ha?> not studied either in composition or de- 
livery. Those qualities are not to be expected in one 
whose life has been chiefly passed in such scenes as 
we have sketched. He is artificial in nothing. His 
reading cannot be supposed to be extensive nor his 
application to books very frequent. In regard to hll^i" 
"^i^S he has been always fouod inddatigable and sa» 



LIFE OF ADAM3. 



a^B 



^acious. He possesses a competent estate, and lives 
hospitably in the manner of a substantial farmer. He 
is without children. His amusements have consisted 
in the management of his domestic concerns, the 
sports of the turf and social intercourse. He is tem- 
perate in his diet and in all respects enjoys a good pri- 
vate reputation. His public character is to be known 
from the history of his public career, which we have 
regularly, though very imperfectly traced. 



LIFE OF ADASiS. 

John Quincy Adams was born at Braintree, Mass. 
July 11, 1767. In the 11th of year his age, 1778, 
he accompanied his father, John Adams, late Presi= 
dent of the United States, to France, the father being 
joint commissioner with Dr. FranUin and Arthur 
Lee to that Court. After residing about 18 months 
in France, he returned home with his lather. In 
1779, the father of Mr. Adams was again sent to 
Europe, with a commission for negotiating peaces, 
and a treaty of commerce with Great Britain. He 
took again his son J. Q. A<lams with him. . They 
■ arrived in Paris after a disastrous passage, and ibe 
son was put to school in that city. — And when it be- 
came necessary for the father to go to Holland, ia 
pursuance of his ofncial duties, he took his son with 
bim, and first placed him in a public city school in 
Amsterdam, and afterwards, at a suitable time, at the 
university at Leyden. In Jul), 1781, the son, a^ 
private secretary, accompanied to St. Petersburg, the 
late Judge Dana, who had been appointed' Minister 
Plenipotentiarv to the Empress of Russia. He re- 
mained with Judge Dana about fourteen months whet3- 
be left St. Petersburg to rejoin his father in Hollands 
Ths father '.vas, on the arrival of ihe con in HoUand, 



^^6 LIFE OF ADA MSv 

at Parisj on business relating to his commission. The 
son however remained at the Hague. The father sootii 
rejoined his son, and in a short iim« alter they both 
Went to Paris. The definite treaty was signed in 
September, 1783| and they both resided together in 
England, Holland and France, until 1785. 

The father was appointed, about this time, minister 
to the court of St. Jamesj and the son returned to this 
country. After preparatory studies he was admitted 
a student at Cambridge University, where he received 
the degree of bachelor of arts, in 1787. After com- 
pleting his collegiate studies, he commenced the read- 
ing of law in the office of the late Theoj^hilus Parsons, 
at Newburyport, and at the expiration ofihe usual pe- 
riod allowed for acquiring a law education, was ad- 
mitted to the bar in the Courts of the State, and com- 
snenced the practice in Boston. 

He remained in Boston about four years, during 
which time his professional practice was inconsidera*- 
ble. His attention was chiefly engrossed by political 
subjects. In the summer of 1791, he published a se- 
ries of numbers in the Boston Centinel, under the sig- 
natufe of Puhlicoia. These papers were at the time, 
unpopular, as containing political heresy, and ques- 
tioning the infallibility of the French Revolution. He 
also published a few numbers in the same paper, un- 
der the signature of Jlarcellits. The latter were much 
noticed, and are now consigned to oblivion. But his 
subsequent papers, in the support of Washington's 
proclamaiion of neutrality, attracted a large share of 
public attention, and were popular, as they comported 
with the sentiments of a majority of the people of this 
country, at that time. 

In 1794, he was appointed minister resident to the 
United Netherlands. When this appointment took 
place, his father was Vice President of the United. 
States. It is said that appointment was as unexpected 
to him as to his son, but with what authority we know 
not. 

Srom 1794 to 1801, J. Q<. Adams was in Europe. 



UEE OF ADAMS. 



^^1 



successfull}' employed as a public minister in Holland, 
England, and Prussia. He -^vas, while in Europe, 
nominait'd by Washington, as minister Plenipotentia- 
ry to the Court of" Lisbon; but at the accession of his 
-father to the Presidei-cy, his destination was changed 
and he was appointed minister to the Court of Berlin. 
The appointment entitled him to the outfit of minister 
plenipotentiary, 89,000, although he was then in Eu- 
rope; but it is said he only received a sum, which, to- 
gether with what he received as minister resident in 
Netherlands, made up the u^ual amount allowed to 
foYeign ministers. 

He remained at Berlin from November, 1797, un- 
til April 1801: and during that time concluded a 
treaty of commerce with Prussia. He was thtn re- 
called, and arrived in Philadelphia in September 1801, 
just before the commencement of Jefferson's adminis- 
tration- 

In 1802, he was elected a member of theSenate of 
Massachusetts, and served in that capacity one year. 
He was then elected, while enjoying the coi/fidence c^£ 
the anti-Jeffersonian party in Massachusetts, a senator 
of the United States, for six years from the 4ih of 
March, 1803. IBut when the embargo question came 
*before congress, he advocated that measure, and there- 
by became obnoxious to the legislature of the state 
which conferred upon him hip sJtation in congress. He 
resigned his office as senator, in 1808," and his reasons 
for so doing are to be found in a Ittter, which he ad- 
dressed to the late Governor Sullivan, of Massachu- 
setts. So valuable an acquisition to a party was not 
to be neglected, and in IVlarch 1809, he was non)in3t- 
ed by Mr, Madison, for a Minister to Russia, but no 
vote was taken on the nomination. He was, however, 
in August following appointed minister plenipotentia- 
ry to the Emperor of Kussia, the office before desig- 
nated for him^ 

Such are the principal po?j7ica? events in the life of 
.^Ir, Adams, until his participation in the negociatiooi 



-%%^ LIFE OF ei,A¥. 

at Ghent, and his subsequent appointment to the dftice 
of Secretary of State. 

In 1825, Mr. Adams was elected President of the 
United States, — At this time he occupies the execu- 
tive chair of state with becoming dignity to himseh^ 
and the nation. 

His public literartj career embraces the period, dur- 
ing which he held the office of Bovlslon Professor of 
Rhetoric and Oratory, in the University of Cam- 
bridge. His lectures are before the public, and are 
generally considered as happy specimens of learning 
and taste. 

Mr. Adams was married at London, in July 17975 
to a daughter of Joshua Johnson, the Consul of the 
-United States at that place. 



LIFE OP CLAY. 



Henp.y Clay, was born in Virginia, in April, 
'2 776. At this time the affairs of the country v/tre so 
unsettled, that it may be said of Mr. Clay that he was 
cradled in the clouds and rocked by the whirlwind, to 
which many may be inclined to attribute the hardi- 
hood of his mind, and the intrepid character of his or- 
atory. The elements of opposition lo a toreign influ- 
ence assumed that form which suspended al! the ad- 
vantages and enjoyments of social lifejand called upon 
every member of the community to meet peril and 
privation, to encounter hunger and nakedness, and fire 
and sword, in order to strike o^ colonial fetters, and 
elevate the country to independence and a substantive 
character among nations. The efTects of this statt of 
things continued when the cause was removedj and 
years had elapsed after the termination of the contest 
before the dislocated insiituiions of civil life could be 
pt^rfectly replaced and re-established = Inauspicious. 



LIPE OF CLAY, 



mt 



' therefore, was the age for the cultivation of javeriilfc 
intellect. — Youthful genius, in a majority of instances, 
-had to rely on its own industry and resources for the 
formation of its character; and such was the necessity 
v/hich circumstances imposed on Mr. 'Clay, v/ho 't& 
said to have derived little assistance from the aid of 
tutors and the discipline of schools. 

At an early age, Mr. Clay removed to Kerituckv, 
where ht* took an active part in opposing the alien and 
sedition lawsj and,afterw'ards, in advocating the cause 
of negro emancipationr in his adopted StRtei and the 
ability which he displayed on these occasions obtained 
'for him a seat in the State Legislature, from which^ 
' in-lSOr, he was transferred to the Senate of the United 
States, to serve the remainder of. the term for which 
Gov. Adair was elected. In 1807, he v/as again 
elected to the" State Legislature, and in 1809, was once 
more tran&ferrc-d to the U. S. Senate, where he re- 
mained until 1811, when he became a member of the 
House oi Representatives, in which vnth the exception 
of the 17th Congress, ar»d the interval of his diploma- 
tic residence in l^urope, when he declined a re-elec- 
tion, he remained until 1825. Mis prominentacts 
in the Senate were his arguments in favor of the erec-> 
'tion of the Futomac bridge, his defence of the occupa- 
tion of West Florida by Mr. Madison, and his oppo^ 
sition to the renewal of the Bank charter. In the 
House of Representatives he retracted his former 
opinions respecting the Bank charter, ranged himself 
on the side of that illustrii/us phalanx which supported 
vhe second war of Independence, and proved himsttf 
the able advocate of the Navy, Internal Improvements, 
and Domestic ManrJactures. His ejForts in favor of 
South American Independence, and on the Missouri 
-Question, have placed his name in conspicuous con« 
nexion with those important events, v/hich so power" 
fully excited the feelings of every class of the Ameri- 
can community. The high estimation in which the 
talents of ^i^rc Clayare held by the House of R^pre- 
20 



sentatives, require no other evidence than the fact^-that 
he has been elected Speaker, at the commencement of 
every session when he had a seat in the House, and 
that his decisions ha^e been uniforml\ concurred ino 
This unvarying result is to be attributed, principally, 
to his perfect acquaintance with the rules of the House^ 
and secondarily, to the peculiar weight and .uuhority 
of manner with which he delivers his opinions. To 
the former, the old and experienced, render submis- 
sion; while the latter awe and control the new mem- 
bers unpractised in the established routine of legisla- 
tive proceedings. 

In 1814, Mr. Clay was appointed, in conjunctioo. 
.with Mr. Adams and Mr. Bayard, to meet the BrU» 
ish Commissioners at Ghent, for the purpose of ar- 
ranging all matters^in dispute between the two coun- 
tries; and thence he proceeded to London and comple- 
ted his diplomatic miss-ion. The opportunities which 
this personal intercourse off red him ot making him- 
sell familiar with the oratory of Europe could not, by 
a mind impregnated with honorj^ble ambition, be al- 
lowed to pass unimproved. Those masters ot elo- 
-quence, Pitt, Fox, Burke, Windham, and Sheridan^ 
had indeed, passed away, and the places which they 
had filled with such sijrprising splendor were occupied 
by talents of an inferior order; yet the spirit ot orato- 
ry survived, and within the walls of St.. Stephens wer€ 
to be heard voices which could discourse sweet nnusic 
the ear, and fascinate the soul with energy of argument 
and the excursiveness of imagination, chastised by a 
discreet tasie, and arrayed in all that fancy can con- 
ceive of (he affluence of languttge.. In Mr. Clay's 
elo ution, however, we find nothing imitative. It is 
peculiarly his own, and partakes laigtly ot the charac- 
ter of our country; it is always bf Id, and frequently 
-impassioned; disdairing the rules ot art, it is regulatf d 
entirely by inipulses, ard relies i( r son e of its most 
powerful effects on its cspability cf awakening respon- 
fi^ive inypulses in the breast of its audit^rsj in its selec- 



LIFE OF CLAY. 



t^% 



don of words and phrases, it prefers power to orna- 
ment^ and on this account, frequently falls discordantly 
upon the ear; its imagery is never remote or ostenta- 
tious, nor of too frequent occurrence; sometimes it 
creates sympathy by the pow«r of pathos; sometimes, 
frying from premisrs unsustainable, and illogical con- 
clusiDns, it appeals to the sterner feelings in lofty tori«s 
of declamation; always avoiding the error of making 
thoughts subservient to words, the course of his lan- 
guage uniformly obeys the index of hia mind when- 
ever it may point, ranging with libertine carclessnesa 
through all the boundless sphere of expression. 

Mr. Clay's manner is ardent and forcible. There 
is no fastidious delicacy in his choice of phrases; there 
is no reservation of thought; there is no sacrifice of 
gense to sound. He floats out into his subject vvilh 
Apparent indifFrrence, not unfrequently, indeed, Vv'iih- 
a negligence which p4:oduces an imfavorable impres- 
sion on his hearers: but, when he approaches his ar- 
gument, he suddenly springs. from this unnatural apa- 
thy, summons his whole soul to the conflict, throws 
himself into the tide of ideas, and surrenders himself 
up to an impetus which he seems to want both ability 
and disposition to resist. His style, although tar 
from chasti' , is commonly free from ambiguity; but it 
wants conciseness and concentration; and we are not: 
convinced that it is always under the guidance of a 
sound judgment, 

The figure of Mr. Clay is favorable for oratorical 
display. Tbil and well-proportioned his countenance? 
strongly marked, his gestures unrestrained and unar- 
tificial; his tones of voice, though few, yet flexible ami 
irusical; and add to. aU these.^ his manner enthusiastic 
and impressive, it cannot be matter of surprise that 
bis eloquence has attained for hia) so extensive a pop- 
ularity. Every muscle of his counten.^nce indicates 
the working of his mind: every moti ^n of his is cor" 
responsive to a movement within; and every acticai 
fec^ifcs i's direciion from-the sanrie legitimate source. 



■^S'Sc UsB OF LAFAYETTB. 

If, therefore, Mr. Clay cannot be set down as one oi 
the n^ost finished, his powers of eloquence entitle hiin 
to rank among the most impressive orators of the age, 
In 1825, after J. Q. Adanns, was inaugurated pre- 
^sident of the United States, Henry Clay, was nomi- 
laated and appointed Secretary of State, v^hich high 
and responsible station he now fills with dignity and 
bonor to hiniself and credit to the nation. 



LIFE OF LAFAYETTE. 

Gilbert Motier Marques db Lajayettej- 
was born at Auvergne, in France, in t year 1757. 
The inhabitants of that province, f r > - ea? y times, 
have been distinguished for their boldness and love of 
independence; and the family of Lafayette were equal- 
ly distinguished for their tearless spirit, and chivalrous 
contempt of danger. With these feelings, though but 
a youth, his attention was early directed ta this coun- 
try, while engaged in our revolutionary struggle with 
♦he giant power of Great Britain. He resolved to 
visit us and draw his virgin sv/ord in our caose; and 
at the age of 19, be embarked in a ship furnished at 
Iiis own expense, and landed at Charleston, S. C. in 
January, 1777. He was not a desperate adventurer, 
whose embarrassed affairs at home deprived him oi 
the means of enjoying life, and, therefore, was willing 
to risk all under a selfish hope of bettering his own 
private condition. He was born to a princely fortune. 
He was surroun*^ed by relatives and friends, and had 
been blessed even thus early in life with conjugal love. 
He bid adieu to his native land, to relatives and friends 
ajnd to the tender and interesting partner of his bo- 
som; to all the pleasures and amusements which were 
presented to him in the '* gay regions and vine-cover- 
ed hills of France," to join -in the gloriora^s epRts-t, 



LIFE OF LAFAYETTE. 



S3& 



for liberty in the colonics of America. He immedi- 
ately entered'the army and served as a volunteer, un* 
til the 31st of July following, when he was commis- 
sioned by congress a major general, " in consequence 
of his zeal and hrs illustrious family connexions.'" 
He distinguished himself on various occasions, and 
particularly at the battle of Brandy wine, where he 
was engaged in the hottest of the combat, and when 
wounded refused to quit the field. On the 25th of 
November following, he attacked and repulsed a body 
of Hessians with an inferior force, for which he was 
entrusted with a suitable command. 

In 1779 he returned to France, on a visit; and soon 
r,fter reaching Paris, a sword was presented him by 
ihe American minister, in the name of congress. 
While there he used all his influence with the Govern- 
rr.ent in the cause so near his heart, and succeeded m 
gaining their countenance and assistance. He return- 
ed again, and landed at Boston, with large reinforce- 
ments, in 1780. In 1781 he was ordered to the south 
with a separate and independent command, for the 
purpose of driving Arnold out of Virginia; but failed 
:n his object; for want of the co-operation of the French 
Heet. He was of great service, however, in checking- 
ihe marauding expedition of General Phillips; and 
was soon afterwards opposed to Cornv/allis, the ablcsg 
general sent by the mother country to subdue us, Oe 
nrst hearing that Lafayette was to be opposed to himj, 
the British commander had exultingly said, *' the 
boy shall not escape mej" but he found himself so of« 
tea ba.?ied by his young enemy, that it became neces- 
sary to use the greatest vigilance to prevent his own 
army from being, surprised. His mancsuvreS; were - 
masterlva 

The army was in want, and he supplied those wants 
from his private purse, paying 10,6oad'dlars at one- 
time for clothings At the siege of Yorktown he act- 
ed a brave and conspicuous part; in short, he comina-- 
3d actively engaged in our service till the doss of th^^ 



^5S¥ 



UFE gr LAFAYETTE. 



^ar; saw our independence sealed, and our co-un!*^' 
free and happy, with a brighter prospect of fniur^^ 
greatness spread before us thun ever had blessed the. 
struggles of any nation on earth. 

In 1784 he ennbarked again for his native country, 
loaded with honor and the gratitude of the American 
people. He vvas: received in France in the nnost en- 
thusiastic K^anner; and when the French revolution 
broke out,.he took sides again in the cause of freedom, 
and was elected to the States Generctlf by his native 
province. In 1789 ha came forward in that body 
with his celebrated declaration of the Rights of Man, 
and, for his firmness in opposition to the court, was 
elected president of the assembly and commandant of 
the National G,uard« He did not, however enter into 
all the sanguinary measures of the revolutionists, and , 
all his efforts were to preserve order in the capital. 

When ordered by the commune of Paris to proceed 
to Versailles, with his army and take possession of the 
outposts, he. re&trained t!>e violeivce of his soldiers, 
assured the king snd q^ieen of their safety, and saved 
the lives of fifteen of the household troops who had 
been selected as the victims of the infuriated assail- 
ants. He also advised the Duke of Orleans to leavg 
the kingdom, as his presence gave countenance to mar 
ivy sanguinary prpcedureSo 

His popularity continued to increase, and in 1790 
he was created general in chief of the National 
Guards of France. Occupying this important post 
at that interesting, crisis, thti- eyes of the world were 
turned upou himo His whole energies were excited 
an the cause of liberty, and at the same time for tha 
afnaintenance of the public tranquility^ He ht-ld as it 
were a magnanimou.^ neutrality between the different 
parties wheobeyond tbs laws of justice and modera- 
tion. He g?ive his vote.for the trial by jury and tha 
emancipation of the people of color^ But in.th^ 
spring of 1791, the tide "of public feeling began to,. 
^shangci He wa& cruelly and unjustly susgectgd b)^. 



MPB OP LAFAYETTE. 



t'iS 



iU^ naiicinal assembly, and his troops were even affect- 
ed by the intrigues of those tumuttuoos times. Anti 
when the uiiforianate Louis wished to vi^it St. Cloud, 
he gave orders to let him pass, and was for the first 
time disobeyed! When the king. finally fled, his fligl>t 
was attributed to him. And thcking having been tcv 
ken at Varennes, the royalists turned- on liim from 
one side, and Marat and his party accused him of 
treachery on the other.'. Hashfe was even attempted 
by a ruffian, who was suO'ered to escape unpunished. 

When the consutution was adapted, he resigned h:« 
command, on which occasion a gojd medal and a busc 
of Washington were presented to h:m bv the city of 
Paris. He was offered, in addition, a fuli remunera?' 
tion for his losses by the revolution, and this he m^^^ 
nanimously declined. 

In 1792 he was given the command of the army of 
the centre, near Ardennes. Observing, however^ the 
wanton and unnecessary indignities offered the king, 
he caused remonstrances to be forwarded from th« 
different corps of the army-. These producing no cf* 
feet, he wentio person to Paris to makeJ^is complaints. 
The military once more, opened their arms to receive 
him, and asked to be led againat the Jacobin Club, tha 
authors of all the injuries of v^thich he complained. 
This offer, from a generous desire to prevent the ef- 
fusion. of blood, he refused, while he proposed t<> tha 
king, at the same time, to trow himself upon the army 
for protecti 'nj but the imbecility and distrust of Lois- 
is prevented him from acceding .to the offer. On tha 
sn«morahle lOth of August, and on the flight ofth3 
royal family to the national ass^embly for safety. La-?* 
fayette was deprived of his command, after vainly 
endeavoring to prevent the outrages of the mxjb. Tha 
Swiss Guards were all- massacred, a/ur a.gallant re« 
sistancc; and the noble-hearted Lafayetle^ " s com=» 
pelled to fly before the madness and fury of his counw 
trymen. A price was set upon his head, and the go!-* 
den medal befoj« him broken in pieces by Wx coiaJiiG^ 



256 ■■ MEE 5f LA-FAY-ETTE.- 

He therefore mounted his horse, wiih sevejit^ea 
companions, among whom wtre I^.atour Maubourg, 
the friend of his youth; Alexander Lamath, formerly 
the most bitter of his adversaries, but now determined 
toparticipiite in his misfortunes; Bureau de Pusy, three 
fnius president of. the constituting assemblv; several 
ot his aids-de-camp; and, in short, all thob'; who drea- 
ded the wrath of the triumphmg party. None of them 
attempted to seduce a single battalion to desert, and, 
by such base and inglorious means, ensure the favor of 
the enem.y: on the contrary, it was their sole wish to 
retire to some distant country, and wait for better days 
and a more auspicious fortune. Having abandoned 
the French territor)-, they travclk-d several leagues 
without encountering any difficult} t They were dressed 
in their respective tmifojms; and, in the course of their 
journey, frankly announced themselvts as officers, who, 
having leit the army, were now repairing to Switzer- 
land. At length they were met by an Austrian pat= 
role, and being interrogated, they delivered in an ac- 
count of their names and rank; adding, at the same 
lime, the reasons which had induced them to fly from 
their own country. On this they v/ere arrested, ancH 
declared prisoners to the king of Prussia. - 

Lafavette, Vv'hen he first determined to abandon his 
troopsj was well aware that he might he exposed to pre- 
•jdice and enmity, scarcely leos implicable than thaG 
from U'hich he was obliged to shelter himself; yet both 
he and his friends still hoped that this nionarch would, 
in their persons, respect the rules of war, and the rights 
of misfortune. But the leaders, now on their march 
to restore the ancient monarchv of France, equally ne- 
glecting the voice of policy and of justice, were ren° 
dered presumptuous by the hope of succesSj and steel- 
ed to pitv on iK'aring of those divisions %vhich presen- 
ted them with the means of gratif\ing the reveries of 
ambition and revenge. Detesting every thing con= 
nected with the revoluiion, Frederick William was noS 
a^sple^edto have one of its first promoters. JQ-hiG 



LiFE OF LAFAYEETE, ^^^ 

:por;er. Lafayette was, therefore, with three other 
constituents, (Latour iVlaubourg, Alexander L«n)ath, 
and Burenux de Pusy,) conducted to Luxemburg, 
from whence he was pernriillcd to address a ktttr to- 
the Duke of Saxe Teschen, governor gemral of the 
low countries. That prince not only signified his re- 
fusal in the most peremptory manner, but addtd, wi'.h 
a degree of bitterness wholly unsuitable to the occa- 
sion, *- that they should be reserved for the scaffold." 
Immediately after this, a correspondence took place 
between the courts of Berlin and Vienna, relative to 
those prisoners; and as it was at length determined 
that the monarch who commandt-d the combined army, 
should be entrusted with the custody of Lafayette and 
bis companions, they were accordingly conducted un- 
der an escort, and imprisoned at Wesel, where they 
were confined separately, and constantly superintended 
by non commisioned ofiicers, who received strict orders 
never to permit them to remain, for a single-pioment, 
out of sight, nor, to answer any questions that were pu: 
by them. 

Lafayette, overvv-helmed whh chngrin and mortifi^ 
cation, fell sick, and became so dangerously ill, that' 
his life was de.«^paired of; While in. this condition, 
Maubough was refused permission to visit his friend, 
now supposed to be on his death bed. 

But a salutary crisis having occurred, and the king 
of Prussia thinkingjhat he might be able»to profit by 
his convalescence, caused it to be intirr^^ted ihat his 
situation would be ameliorated, provid^l he would 
draw up his plans against, France, But Lafayette ex- 
hibited, by means of an energetic answe^, his scorn of 
such a proposition. On this, the rigors ol his con- 
finement were increased, and he and iTis companions 
soon after throv^a into a wagon, and conveyed to Mag- 
del^urg, care being taken that they should learn noth- 
ing respectiiig their families, concerning whose fate 
they experienced the most lively err.itioap, in conse- 
quence of 'the proacriptions that prevailed in France-, 



tm 



LIFE OF LAFAYETTE. 



By removing them in this manner, it seems to ha^c 
been the intention ^^f ihcir persecutors to aggravate 
their miseries, and excite the public indignation; but 
if such were their mjtives, they were greatly disap- 
pointed, as they every where experienced th^i interest 
and compassion, produced alike by the injustice of 
of their detention, and the constancy of their c<iurage. 
They remained, during a whole year at Magdeburg, 
in a dark, humid vault, surrounded by high palisades, 
shut up by means of- four successive doors, fortitied 
by iron bars, and fastened by padlocks. This fate, 
however, appeared to be now milder, as they were 
permitted to see each other, and allowed to walk an 
hour, each day. on one of the bastions. 

At length the king of Prussia, all of a sudden, or- 
dered Lafayette to be removed to Neiss. Maubourg 
in vain solicited to be shut up along with him; but 
this favor was denied, and he was conducted to Glatz, 
whither Bureaux de Pusy was also carried soon ai&r, 
Alexander Lamath, who was dangerously ill, coufd 
not be transported along with his companions. His 
mother, after many solicitations, prevailed on the king 
to permit him to remain within his ovvn dominions^ 
and, soon after the peace had been concluded between 
that monarch and the French republic, he was fortu- 
nate enough to regain his liberty. The other prisun- 
ers were now confined in Neiss, for the purpose of 
being dr-livered up to Austria; and although the dun- 
geon inhabited by them was still more damp and un- 
healthy than any of the others; vet they deemed them- 
selves fortunate, for the three captives were permitted 
to enjoy the society of Madame Maissoneuve, who 
bad courage(juslv repaired thirher to participate in the 
lot of her brother La Tour Maubourg. 

Soon after this they were conducted to Olmulz; 
and, on their arrival there, were so completely stripped 
of every thing that only their buckks and watches re- 
mained; somr books were also taken from them, in 
which the wo;d r/fca-^y happened to be inserted, p^- 
tkular'y. *'L' Esprit.'^ by Hclvetius, and Painjr'!- 



tIFE OF LAFAYETTE. 



^1i% 



**Common Sense^" both belonging to Lafayette. 

; it was declared to each, while shutting them up 
separately in their cells, that henceforth they woula 
never see any thing but the four walls of their dun- 
geon; that they niight txpect do manner of intelligence 
cither concerning persons or things; that the mention 
of their v-ry namtsfcvcn by the j/ilors, or io the dis- 
patches sent to cowrt, was prohibited, and that in fu- 
ture they woiild only be designated by particular num- 
bers; and ihv.t tinry could nrver receive any informa- 
tion concerning the fate of (hcirfamilitrs, or their owa 
reciprocal existence; and . that, ^s men in this situation 
would be naturally inclined to destroy themselves, they 
must be interdicted the use of knife, fork, or any other 
instrument which might produce suicide- ! ! 

After three diff rent attestations on the part of the 
physicians, poinnng out the indispensable necessity of 
fresh air for Lafayette, he was permitted to walk on 
the fortress, and the indulgence afterwards was ex- 
tended to a ride oo certain duvsin an open c; rriage, 
^vith and officer by his sid-, a driver on the box, and 
two prnjed soldir^rs standing behind. It was this cir- 
cumstance that aflfjrded him an opportunity to escape 
on the 8th of November, 1794. 'The persons who 
assisted the Marquis-in bis escape were Doctor BoU^ 
man, a voung German, who was employed by seve- 
ral Frenchmen and Americans then in England, and 
jVIr. Hu^er, of South Carolina, who was accidentally 
travcllmg through Germany, and voluRtarily engaged 
to accompany Doctor Bellman in the hazardous at- 
tempt. 

The Doctor bad already effected a com* unJcatioB 
with Lafayette, through the military surgeon who at- 
tended him, and who was a man of inttllrgence, probi- 
ty, and feeling. UnsuspeeSing any plot, the Surgeon 
delivered a pamphlet, and afterwa»^ds a note to La- 
fa\ttte, from Doctor Bollman. The note had been 
previously written over with sympathetic ink, a writ- 
ing invisible unless brought out by the application -of 



2.5^0 LIFE OF LAFAYETtEc 

beat. The few lines written with common ink con- 
cluded with the sentence *' I am glad of the opportu- 
nity of addressing you tht^se few words, which, when 
read with your usual xvm^inth, \^\\\ afford to a heart 
like yours, some consolation.'* This means of con- 
veying secret intelligence had been so otten used dur- 
ing the French Revoiuiiun, that it was thought the 
slight hint given would be sufficient, and so ii provedi 
the iMarqijis became acquainted with the true motive 
of the Doctor's Journey, and with his readiness to run 
all hazards to serve him in. any practicable way. At 
the saaie time it was stated, that the mode in which 
the Marquis could be served must be pointed out by 
him'^^clf, since too much care could not be used to 
guard against suspicion; and since he alone, from 
within, could judge what might be attempted, from 
without, v/ith any chance of success; that, for the 
same reason, it became expedient for the Doctor, after 
having established this communjcatian, to leave Ol- 
mutz; that he should proceed to Vienna, but certainly 
return in a month or two, under some convenient pre- 
tex ; flattering himself that this interval would be im- 
proved in devising and maturing a mode of attaining 
the great ol^ject. 

Accordingly, he repaired to Vienna, ^nd while 
th Te he procured a carriage to be built with conveni- 
ent places contrivt-d for secreting various articles, such 
as rope ladders, 'Cords, a number of tools for cutting 
bars of iron, and for similar purposes of all of which 
he obtained a supply. These gemral preparations 
having been made, he visited several gentlemen on 
their estates in Moravia, and took an opportunity of 
ftgain touching at Olmutz; where he just called on the 
Surgeon* who returned the pamnhlet formerly left for 
the Marquis. On examining it he found that the 
margins had hern written over with sympathetic ink— - 
lime juice- — and on applying heat he learn that the 
Marquis on account of his enfeebled state of health, 
^fter repcati'd applications, had obt-aiaey permissioR 



LIFE OF LATAYETTE. 



«5vl 



'to-^ake an airing in a carriage, at staged days in the 
week, attended by a military guard; and that, by far 
the easiest mode to restore him to liberty, would be 
to attack the guard on one of those excursions, and 
tlien take him off. 

Having read this, the Doctor contrived to fall in 
with the Surgeon, to whom he mentioned, verbally^ 
that he had just received important intelligence from 
England, which would oblige him shortly to return to 
London; that he wa« immediately goitig to Vienna to 
Arrange his affairs, but should be back in a few days, 
when he should take his final leave of himo This he 
had no doabt would be repeated to the Marquis, and 
be sufHcient for his information. He did not, liowever, 
leave Olmutz, before ascertaining the manner the 
Ivlarquis was guarded when taking his rides. No time 
tvas to be lost, yet how to proceed seemed difficult. 
The doctor was aione, without a confidant, without 
even a servant that could be depended upon, and by- 
no means abundandy supplied with money. Under 
"such circumstances, success could only be expected 
from simplicity of design, and boldness of execution?- 
yet it became indispensible to bnve at least one co- 
adjutor who should be in the secret, and he chose for 
ihis purpose, the before-mentioned Mr. Huger, with 
whom he became accidentall}' acquainted at Vienna^ 
He fuund him possessed of a warm heart and resolute 
niind. Like others of bis countrymen he entertained 
the highest regard for the Marquis, and lamented his 
fate. He had, besides, often mentioned in conversa- 
lion that Lafayette, on arriving in America^ first land- 
ed at his father's house, and there often used to have 
him on his knees when a bo}'. Under these circum- 
stances it seemed that he might be safely crusted; nor 
was the confidence misplaced. They procured two 
saddle horses, and soon after repaired to Olmutz. 
iCnowing the day when the Marquis was to take his 
ride, Mr. Huger feigned some business near the town 
gate, in order to watch the moment when the carri^ 
21 



'^"^ LIFE OF LAFAYETTE. 

should pass. As soon as he saw it, he fiew to the 
Inn. Our adventurers mounted, and followed the 
carriage at some distance, armed only with a pair of 
pistols, and those not loaded with ball. The catriage 
proceeded between two and three miles, whenitUrt 
the high road, and took a track traversing an open 
plain, for in Moravia the fields are only separated by 
small ditches, instead of fences or hedges; the plain 
was covered with laboring people. Presently the car- 
riage stopped; Laiayette and the officer stepped out, 
and walked arm in arm; the carriage with the guard 
drove dovvly on, but remained in sight. This was 
the moment. The two companions galloped up; the 
doctor dismounting, left his horse with Ruger; at the 
same instant the Marquis laid hold of the officers 
sword, but could only half draw it from the scabbard, 
as the officer, a stout man, had seized it also. The 
doctor joining, he ^vas presently disarmed, but he 
then grasped the Marquis, held him with all his might 
and set up a tremendous roaring, not unlike that of 
Mars in the Iliad. The guard on hearing it, mstead 
.of coming up to his assistance ran; the people in the 
iield stood aghast. A scuffle ensued, iiuger passed 
£he bridles of the two horses over one arm, and with 
the other hand thrust his handkerchief into the officers 
jmouth to stop the noise. The officer, the Marquis, 
and the doctor came to the groundi the doctor, kneel- 
ing on the officer, kept him down while the Marquis 
rose. All would have beer well, but one of the hor- 
ses, taking fripht at the scene and noise, fad reared 
slipped his bridle, and ran oiT; a country! an caught 
him, and was holditig I in» at a considerable distancco 
Whether he could be had again was doubtful. The 
doctor still holding down the officer, hanrled a purse 
to the Marquis and requested him to mount the horse 
left and proceed to Brff, where he would pron>ptly 
join him, if possible, if rot, to n>a^re the best ot his 
way to the frontier. IheMarquis was out cf sight 
^Q a i;noment. The cSicer recoyersd frc/su his panic. 



LIFE OF LAFAVETTE. 



&w 



and fled towards Olmutz; the doctor and Mr. Hugeu 
v/ent to the horse which had escaped, and obtained 
him from the peasant for a piece of gold, but Rnding 
he would not carry double, Mr. Huger instantly said^ 
*' This will not doj the Marquis wants you, push 005 
I'll take my chance on foot, across the country." The: 
doctor then galloped off after the Marquis, and sooa 
reached HolT, but did not find him there; he, there- 
fore, ordered the post boy to drive on; but little con« 
cerned for himself, and anxious to fall in with, or re- 
ceive son^e intelliger\ce from the Marquis, he kepG 
Ravelling along the frontier, and was finally overtaken 
and arrested, towards evening on the second-day after 
his departure from Olmutz. Mr. Huger did not re** 
5«ain at liberty so long; within sight of Vne people in 
the fields, before whom the v/hole transaction had ta- 
ken place, when geneVously telling the doctor to pro- 
ceed, he was followed by them, seized, and conducted 
to Olmutz. The Marquis remained unpursued, bu& 
having mistaken the road, he followed it to within a 
few miles of the fromier; perceiving then that his horse 
became excessively tired, and v/as near giving over^ 
he accosted a man whom he had overtaken on the road 
not far from a village, and under some pretext en- 
deavored to prevail on him to procure him another 
horse, and to attend him to the froniier> The man 
apparently agreed, and v/ent to the village for horses^ 
but soon returned with a force to arrest the Marquis 
and conduct him before a magistrate, and, finally to 
the fortress at Olmutz. 

Alter a formal trial, and an imprisonment of more 
than eight months, the doctor and Mr, Huger were 
released, but their triumph was embittered by the con- 
tinued captivity of the ?>iarquis, lo order to aug^* 
nient the horrors experienced by Lafayette, he was 
m^deio believe that the two gentlemen, who so nf>bly 
interested themselves in his favor, had perished on a 
scaffold. While thus tortured in his dungeon at OI- 
si'.utz, and apprehending daily 10 be delivering up to 



12^. 



LIFE OF LAFAYETTE. 



the hands of the executioner, his unhappy wife, wnc 
"tvas confined in a dungeon at Paris, also txpeciejd 
every hour to suffer the same disastrous fate which 
had attended the greater part of her family. The 
fall of Robespierre at length saved her life, but it was 
long afterwards before she gained her libert}', aqd 
the necessary strength to execute the design she had 
for some tinne meditated. Having found means to 
leave France, she landed at Altona, September 9rh 
1795, and set out immediately for Vienna, under the 
name of Moltier, with an American passport, and ar- 
rived there with her two daughters before her desigr^ 
had been divulged*. The i rince d^ Rosenberg, af- 
fected by her virtues, and her misf) nes, obtained 
an audience from the Emperor, and '. .ve to partici- 
pate in the captivity of a husband and a f^thtr, but ab- 
solutely refused to make any promise relative to the 
liberty of Lafayette, 

During two years this interesting famify continued 
immured within the walls of the prison, treated with 
unnecessary rigor — inhaling, in those chambers, or 
rather dungeons an almost pestilential air. The health 
of Madame Lafayette was destroyed, and that of her 
daughters greatly injured., Maubourg, Pusy, and La= 
fayette, had already been imprisoned during three 
years and five months, in the same gallery, without 
seeing or being acquainted with the fate of each other, 
and entertained no prospect whatever of their libertVj 
when the French Directory, by means of their ambas- 
sador, Barthelmi, interfered in their behalf. But this 
was, at first attended with no beneficial effect; and it 
was not till the conquerer of Italy had sent Louis Ro- 
meuf, formerly one of Lafayette's Aids- de camp, to 
solicit this favor, that the court of Vienna would con- 
sent to their deliverance. 

The Austrian niintsters endeavored on this occa- 
sion, to obtain conditions from the prisoners, which 
thev were determined not to accede to; and it w^s 
€iven required, by a nobleman employed for that pur- 



LIFE OF LAFAYETTE. SSB- 

pfGSe, that Lafayette should quit Europe immediately. 
ih a spiritedly reply, transmitted by the latter, he says: 
'^' His Majesty the Emperor and Ki-ng wishes to be 
assured, that/immediately after my deliverance,. I will 
set out for America, This intention has been often 
manifested on- my part j but as. my consent at the pre- 
sent moment would seem to recognise the right of im- 
posing this condition, F do not deem it' proper to ac° 
cede to it." He thus cnntinuess "There are certain^ 
duties which I can never abandOiia By these I am 
connected with the United States, and more especially 
with France; and I cannot enter into an engagement 
whh any one, in contravention to the claims which 
my country possesses, in respect to my persoa." This» 
unexpected resistance greatly irritated the Austrian 
cabinet, and the doors of their dungeons were once 
more shut upon them, while Bonaparte was given t©' 
understand that they had been restored to their liberty, . 
Biit, at length; having received intelligence of whar 
had occurred, he sent Romuef to Vienna, and they 
were ntiall)^ liberated in the month of Septeirvberv 
1797. 

Immediately after this event had taken place, they 
repaired to Hamburg, and Madame Lafayette having- 
obtaint;d leave to return to France, her husband was- 
permitted by Bonaparte to repair thither also, sooa 
after the revolution that occurred in November, 179©', 
liatour IVTaubourg, as weir as his sen and , brother j. 
were recalled by Bonaparte in 1800j and their friend- 
ship for the family of Lafayette has been stifl. further 
cemented by a marriage between young Maubourg 
and a daughter of the Generak Alexander Eamath, 
after having, obtained his liberty by the influence of 
his mother,, went to England in 1T96, and did not till 
j1800 obtain a permanent residence in Franc&o - 

Isafayettc vvas now oirered the protection of Bona- 
parte; but unwiltin^to atrSGciate ia his gcyernment, he 
declined it.. E:ver v/atchfui of the cause of liberty, 
he. voied against the consulship for life, re^edbcicg 



a^6- 



LtFE dC^ LAFAYETTis. 



made a senator, and, dissatisfied with the state of po- 
litical 'nfFairs, retired to Hamburgh where he hved 
privately till after the overthrow of the Directory. 
He then returned to France, and employed himself on 
bis estate, like another Cincinnatus, in agricultural 
amprovtmentSo, 

On tl^e approach of the allies, he offered himself as 
a candidate, was elected a member of the House of 
Deputies and chosen their Vice President. After the 
batcle of Waterloo^ at the time when Bonaparte was 
about to dissolve the Legislature and usurp the dicta- 
Itorship, Lafayette appeared at the tribune, and raising 
the old tri colored flag of 1789, exclaimed: " Liberty^ 
3^qiialHij^ and, Public Order. ^^ He caused the shting 
of the house to be declared permanent, and any one 
who should attempt to dissolve it a traitor to his , 
country, and to be brought to immediate judgment. 

He also caused a declaration to be passed, that the 
army and national guards, ^vho had fought, and were 
still fighting for the defence of the territory and inde- 
pendence, deserved well of their country. He insist- 
ed en the abdicatioD of Bonaparte, v/aa a member cf 
the embassy ordered to demand of the allifid powers 
a suspension of hostilities, which was refused them.. 
He found, at his returnp and, as it waa said, to his 
great regret, the capitulation made, and the army 
removed^ Afjer the final restoration of the Bouibons, 
he once more retired to his beloved retreat. La 
Grange^ when he was elected a deputy from La Sar- 
Ithe. The influence of this old champion of liberty 
was so much dreaded by the ministry, and others of 
their party, that every possible means was taken by 
ahem to prevent the re-election of Lafayette as deputy^ 
He therefore has remained in the bosom of his family 
foi a number of years, enjoying that philosophic ease 
so desirable to a mind of his elevated cast, the delight^ 
ful conter4iplation of a lif< .^pent in the service of man- 
t.ndy and the gratitude^ friendship, and admiration o£' 
AmericaBs, in a degree only second to that which k 



LIFE OF LAFAYETTE. 



at 



The United States congress of 1824, invited Gen- 
eral Lafayette to visit this country; and they had au- 
thorised the President of the United States \o have a 
frigate of the first chiss in readiness to convey General 
Lafayette, as soon as should be known he" wished to 
visit his adopted counfrVo On the 15th of September, 
of the same year without any further iniormaiion, 
General Lafayette arrived at New York, in the Cad- 
mus, one of the New York packets, from Havre, after 
a passage of thirtv-one days, he was accompanied by 
his son George Washington Lafayette, and l^ss private 
secretary, M. Augusta Le V"asseur, all in good health. 
On his landing he v/as conducted to the residence of 
Vice President Tompkins, on- Staten Island, where 
he remained until the following day when he was re- 
ceived in the city of Ntvv York, with unspeakable 
demonstrations of joy and veneration. He has visited 
ail the states, with no less enthusiasm of gratitude 
shev/n him wherever he came to=, He has travelled 
since he arrived iu this country, in one year about 
18,000 miles. He was present at the inauguration of 
President Adams, at laying the corner-stone of the 
Bunker Hill Monument^ hco 

In 1825, the Congress of the United States appro- 
priated to him by an almost unanimous vote (there 
being but one dissenting voice) itvo hundj'ed thon^ 
sand dollars^ in United State's six per cent stock— « 
and an entire township, of land,' left optional with hina 
"o locate where he savv proper, from any of the unsold 
and5 belonging to the United Stateso 



Bec\aYa\io!\ o£ InA^petideiice. 



IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 

Tkb XJnanhnous Declaration of the Thirteen UnUed 
Sta tes • of ^America, 

WHEN, in the course of human events, it becomec 
accessary for one people to dissolve the political 
bands which have connected them with another, and 
to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate 
and equal station to which the laws of iiature and of 
natures God entitle fnem, a decent respect to the cpin» 
ions of mankind requires that they should declare the 
causes which impel them to the separaiiona 

We hold these truths to be self-evident:- — that all 
men are cr-sated equal, that they are endowed by their 
Creator <v'nh certain unalienable rights; that anrong 
these are life, liberty,' and fhe pursuit of happiness. 
That to secure these rights, governments are instituted 
among men, deriving their just powers from the con- 
sent of the Qpverasd^ that whenever any form of gO" 
vernment becomes destructive of these ends, it is. the 
right of the people to ^Iter or to abolish it, and to in- 
stitute new government, laying its foundatioii on such 
principles, and organising its powers ;n such farm, as 
to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety 
and happiness. Prudenc-e, indeed, will dictate, that 
governnmeats long, established should not be changed 
for light and transient causes^ and accordingly all ex-. 
perience hath shown, tiJat mankind are more disposed 
tro suffer while evils are suSerable, than to righs 
themselves by atiolishing the forms to which they are 
accustomedi But when a long traia of abuses and 
usurpationsv pursuing invariably the same object, evin- 
ces a design to redtice them undeir absolute despotssnrrj, •, 
k IS thei!? right, it-- is their duty, to throWiOfFsuch ^o- 
vea-nisQDfj and to proyids mw guards foy. ibejiiiwiuiriS^ 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



2^^ 



iecurity. Such has been the patient sufferance of 
these colonies; and such is now the necebsily which 
sonsirains them to alter their former systems of go- 
vernment. The history ot the present king of Great 
Britain, is a history of repeated injuries and usurpa- 
tions, all having ii> direct object the establishment of 
an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this^ 
let facts be admitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most, whok' 
some and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of ina° 
mediate and pressing impurtance, unless suspi^ndcd in 
their operation, till his assent should be obtiiined; and 
when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend 
to them. He has refused to pass other laws for the 
ac.eommodation of large districts of people, unless 
those people would relinquish the right of representa- 
tion in the legislature — a right inestimable to tbtnij 
and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places 
unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the reposito- 
ry of their public records, for the sole purpyise of fa= 
tiguing them into compliance with h-is measures^ 

He has dissolved representative houses rejjeaterJly, 
for opposing, with manly fira^ness, his invasions en 
the rights of the people. 

He has refased^ for a long tmie after such dissolu- 
tions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legis» 
iative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned 
to the people at. large, for their exercise, the state re- 
maining, in the mean time, exposed to all the dangers 
of invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of 
these slates; for that purpose, obstructing the laws f^>r 
naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to 
encourage their migration hither, and raising the con- 
ditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by 
refusing hia assent to laws for establishing judiciary , 



t50^ 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDBNCB. 



He has made judges dependent on his will alone, 
for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and pay- 
ment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of nev/ ofHces, and sent 
hither sw"arni&^ of officers, to harass our people, and ear 
out their substance. 

He has kept among usj in times of peace, standing 
armirs, without the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent 
of, and superior to^ the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a ju- 
risdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowl- 
edged by our laws; giving his ussent to their acts of 
pretended legislation: 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among 
us: 

For protecting them, by a mock trials from punish- 
ment for any murders which they should cotnmlt on 
^he inhabitants of these states: 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the wotld; 

For imposiog taxes. on us v/ithom our consent: 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of 
•rial by jury: 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pre- 
tended offences: 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a 
neighbouring province, establishing therein an arbitra- 
ry government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to 
render it at once an example and lit instrument for in- 
troducing, the same absolute rule into these colonies: 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most 
valuable lav/s, and altering^ fundamentally, the forms 
of our governments: 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us ii^ 
all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us 
out of his protection, and waging war against us. 
M: has plundered our seas, ray aired our coaSiS., 



BECLAUATION OF INDEI*ENDENCE, 



?Si 



burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our peo° 

He is at this time transporting large armies ot for- 
eign mercenaries to complete the works of death, de- 
solation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstan- 
ces (if cruelty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the 
most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head 
of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained cur fellow-citiztns, taken cap- 
tive on the high seas, to bear drnis against their coun- 
try, to become the executioners of their friends and 
brethren, or to tall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic msurrertions amongst us, 
and has endeavoured lo bring on the inhabitants of 
OUT frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose 
known rul-r of warfare is an undistmguishcd destruc- 
tion of allagesj sexes, and conditionso 

In every stage of these oppressions we have peti" 
tioned for redress in the most humble terms* our re- 
peated petitioi>s have been answered only by repeated 
injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by 
every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the 
ruler of a free people,. 

Nor have «/e been v^anting in attentions to our Brit- 
ish brethren. We have warned them, from lime to 
time, of attempts by their legislature lo extend an un- 
warrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded 
them of the circunnstances of our emigration and set- 
tlement here. We have appealed to their native juS"* 
tice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by 
the tics of our common kindred to disavow these usur- 
patioiis, which would inevitably interrupt our connex- 
ions and correspondence. They too have been deaj 
to the voire of justice and of consanguinity. We 
niust, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity w^iich de- 
noui:cts our separation, and hold them, as we hold the 
rest of mankind — enemies in war, in peace friends. 

We, therefore, the reprtsentatives of the United 
"States of Americaj in general congress assembled- an- 



%a 



DEGLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 



pealing to the Supreme Judge of the world, for tht 
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the 
authority of ihe good people of these colonies, solemn- 
ly publish and declare, th.it these united colonies are 
and of right oughi to be, free anci indc pendent states^ 
th u they are absolved frojr> all allegiance to the Brit- 
Hh crown, and that all political connexion l)et\veeii 
them and the state of 'Great Britain, is, and ought to 
be, totally dissolved; and that, as free and indepen- 
dent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude 
p.f ace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to 
do ail other acts and things which independent states 
may of right do. And for the support of this decla- 
rv»tlon, with a firm reliance on the protection of Diyine 
Providence, we mutualiy pledge to each other our 
lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

JOHN HANCOCK. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Josiab Bartlett, William Whipple, 

Matthew Thornton. 

MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 

Samuel Adams, John Adams, 

Kobert Treat Paine, Elhridge GcrrVc 

RHODE ISLAND, &C. 

Stephen Hopkins, WiUiam Ellery. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Roger Sherman, William WilliamSy 

Samuel Huntington, Oliver Wolcott. 

NEW York. 
William Floyd, Fra«cis Lewis, • 

Philip Livingston, Lewis iM orris. 

NEW JERSEY. 

Richard Smckton, John Hart, j 

John Witherspoon, Abraham Clarke 

Francis Hopkinson, , 

2>ELAWABE. 

Cesar Rodney, Thomas M'K^alsi. ; 

^George Heady 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDEKClE. 

PENNSYLVANIAo 

Robert Morris, James Smith, 

Benjamin Rush, George Taylorj 

Benjamin' FrankHn, James Wilsoin, 

John Morton, George Ross, 
George Clymer, 

MAPYLAND. 
S'<».K"iUel Chase, Thomas Stone, 

William Paca, Charles Carroll, 

VIRGINIA. 

George Wythe, Thomas Nelson, jr. 

Richard Henry Lee, Francis Lightfoot Lee^ 

Thomas Jefferson, Carter Braxton. 
Benjamin Harrison, 

NORTH CABOLINA. 

William Hooper, John Penn, 

Joseph Hewes, 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Edward Rutledge, Thomas Lynch, jro 

Thomas He} ward, jr. Arthur Middleton, 

GEORGIA. 

Burton Gwinnett, George Walton. 

Lynvan Hall, 



■ %2 



'm^ 



TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UJ^ITED STATES, 

AKNOUNCING HIS INTENTION OF RETIRING FROM P«B« 
Lie SERVICES. 



Friends ami Fellow-Citizens, 



election of a citizen to ad-^/j 
Dvernmtnt of the United ] 



The period for a new 

iminister the executive governm< 

^l . States, being not far distant, and the time actually ar 

r yived, when your thoughts must be employed in desig- 

xiating the person, who is to becloathi^d with that ini- 

, portant trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it 

\ Enay conduce to a more distinct expression of the 

\ public voice, that I should now apprise you of^the 

y.\ resolution I have formed, to decline being consid'ered 

" among the number of those, out of whom a choice is 

to be made. 

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to 
he assijred, that this resolution has not been taken, 
without a strict regard to all the considerations apner- 
tairfing to the relation, which binds a dutiful citizen 
to his country^ and that, in withdrawir.g the tender o 
service which silence in my situation might imply, I 
am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your fu- 
ture interest; no defrtiency of grateful respect for 
your past kindness; but am spppoTfed by a full con- 
viction that the step is compatible with both. K.-^ 

The acceptatvce of, and continuance hitherto in the 
office to which your suffrages have twice called me, 
have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the 
opinion of duty, and to a deference for what appeared 
to be your desire. I constantly h^ped that it would 



> 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL-ADDRESS. ^^^ 

have been much earlier in my power, consistently with 
motives, which I was not at liberty to disrec;ard, to 
return to that retirement, from which I had been re- 
luctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to 
do this, previous to the last election, had even led to 
the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but 
mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical 
posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the 
unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confi* 
dence, impellad me to abandon the idea. 

I rejoice, that the state of your concerns, external 
as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of in- 
clination incompatible v;uh the sentiment of duty, or" 
propriety; and am persuaded vvhat«sver partiality may 
be retained for my services, that in the present cir- 
cu nstances of our country, you will not disapprovti 
of m\ determination to retire. 

The impressions with which I first undertook the 
arduous trust, were explained on the proper occasion* 
In the discharge of this trust, I will only say, that Z 
have with good intentions, contributed towards the 
organization and administration of the goverment, the 
best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was 
capable. Not inconscious, in the outset, of the infe- 
riority of my qualifications; experience in my own 
eyes, perhaps stiil more in the eyes of others, has 
strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and 
every day the increasing weight of years admonishes 
me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as 
necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that 
if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my 
services, they mere temporary, I have the consolation 
to believe, that while choice and prudence invite me to ^< 
quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. ,/- '^» 

In looking forward to the mc^ent, which is intend- 
ed to terfninate the career of my public life, my feel- 
ings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknow- 
ledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my 
beloved country, for the many honors it has conferred 



^Bs 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL-ADDRESS. 



Upon me; still more for the steadfast confidence \vnh 
\vhich it has supporfSd mt; and tor the opportuf^ities 
I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable 
-attachment, by services faithful and persevering, 
though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. It benefits 
have resulted to our country from these services, let i^t 
always be remembered to your praise, as an instruc- 
tive example in our aRm^ls, that under tircumstances 
in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were 
liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes du'oi^ 
ous, — vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, — in 
situations in which not unfrequently want ot success 
has countenanced the spirit of criticism — the con* 
Btancy of your supp-jrt was ine essential prop of the 
efmrts, and a guarantee of the> pia !s by which they 
were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea^j 
I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong inci*.o 
anent to unceasing vows that Heaven mav continue to 
you the choicest tokens of its beneficence — that your 
union and brotherly affection may be perpetual — that 
the free constitution, which is the v/ork of your hands 
maybe sacredly maietained — that its administration in 
every departtiient may be stamp¥(J^visdom and virtue 
—that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these 
states, under the auspices of liberty, may be made 
complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent 
a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory 
of recommendfng it to the applause, the affection and 
adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger^to it. 

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop B\n a solicitude for 
your welfare, which, cannot end but with my life, and 
the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, 
urge me on an occasion like the present, topfFcr to 
your solemn contemplation, and to recommendto yout 
frequent review, some sentiments; which are the 
result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable obser- 
yaVion, and which appear to me all-important to the 
permammey-^.f your felicity as a people. These will 
be offered to you with the m,Qre freedomj as you cai*. 



WASHINGTON'S FAKEvVELL-ADDRESS. 



%Q% 



only see in them the disirr^reste 1 warnings of a part- 
ing friend, who can possibly have no personal motive 
to bias his coancil. Nor can I forget, as an encourage- 
ment to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments 
> on a former and not dissimilar occa!»ion, J^': 
/ Interwoven as is the lov^ of liberty with erery lig^- 
I ment of your hearts, no recomraend^ion of mine is 
\ necessary to fortify or confirm the attach'ment. 
/ The unity of govtrnment which constitutes you one 
' people is also now dear to you» It is justly so; for it is 
amain pillar in the edifice of your real independence, 
the support of your tranquility at home, your peace 
adroad; of your safetyj of your prospentyi of that 
very liberty whfch you so highly prizeo But as it h 
easy to ioresee, thaft from differtnt causes and from 
different quarters, much pains will be taken, many 
artifices employed to weaken in your" minds the con° 
viction of this truthj as this is the point in your poli- 
tical fortress against which the batteries of internal 
and external enemies will be most constantly and 
acrtvely (though often covi^rtly and insiduously) direct^ 
ed, it is of infinite moment, that you should properly 
estimate th2 immence value of your national LJnion to 
your collective and" individual happiness; that youi 
should cherish a cordial, habitual and immovable at- 
tachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and 
speak of it as the Palladium of your political safety 
and prosperity! watchipg for its preservation withjeal° - 
ous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest ? 
eyen that a suspicion that it can in any event be aban- 
doned^ and indignantly frowning upon^the first dawn- 
ing of every attempt to allienate any portion of our ' 
country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred tiee i 
which now link together the various parts. 

For this you have every inducement of sympathy? 

and interest. Citizens bv birth or choice, of a com-- 

lYion rountrv, th «t country has a rrght to concentrate^ 

yoGr affections. - The name of American, which be-- 

!:Dg«. to yen. in vour national capacitv, biueV al^arsa^ 



^S8 WASHINGTON'S ^AREWELL.AD1>REBS. 

exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any appeh 
Ijition-derived from local discriminations. With slighs 
shades of difference, you have the same religion, man- 
ners, habits and political principles. You have in a 
common cause fought and triumphed together; the 
independence and liberty you possess are the work of 
joint councils, and joint efforts, of common dangers^, 
sufferings and successes. ,^, 

But these considerations, however powerfully they 
address themselves to your sensibility, arc greatly out- 
weighed by those which apply more immediately to 
your interest.- — Here every portion of our country 
finds the most commanding motives for carefully 
guarding and preserving the Union of the whole. 
>The Jforlhy in an unrestrained intercourse with the . 
South, protected by the equal lawa of a common gov* 
ernment, finds in the productions of the latter, grea?; 
additional resources of maratime and commercial en- 
terprise and precious materials of manufacturing in- 
dustry.— The Soulhin the same intercourse benefiting 
fey the agency of the Jforih, saes its agriculture grow 
and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its 
own channels, the seamen of the JV'VjHIi, it finds its 
part' ;ular navigation invigoratedj- and while it contri- 
butes indifferent w^ys, to nourish and increase the ge- 
neral mass of the national navigation, it looks forward 
to the protecnon of a maratime sirecgih to which itseli 
is unequally adapted. — The East., in a like inter^ 
course with thtt West^ already finds, and in the pro- 
gressive improvement cf interior communications, by 
land and water, vvill more and rr ore find a valuable 
'^ent for the commodities ivhich it brings from abroad^ 
^r manufactures at homeo— Th'^ West derives from 
the East, supplies requisite to its gro\y;h and com- 
4brt — and what is pttrhapsof still grtaie-r consequence^ 
it must of necessity owe the secure e-joyment of in- 
dispensable outlets for its own productions to the 
iveight, influence, and the future maratime strength 
'f^rf she Atlanu&sids of the Union^, directed by ^n k- 



WASHING TON'S FAlJli\\TiLL-ADDnES3. 



^m^ 



dissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any 
other tenure by which the IVebt ciui iiokl this essential 
advanl?gc, whether derived trom its own separate; i 
strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connection 
with uoy foreign power, must be intrinsically precari- 
ous. 

While then every part of our country thus feels an 
immediate and particular interest in Union, all the 
parts combined cannot fail to nnd in the united mass 
of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, 
proportionably greater security from external danger, 
a less frequent intcrruptian of ihe"!f lieace by foreign 
nations; — and what is of inestimable vdlue, they must 
derive from Union an exemption from these broils 
and wars between tliemselves, which so frequently 
afflict neighbouring countries, not tied together by the 
same government; which their own riv«lships alone 
would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite 
foreign alliances, attachments and intrigues would 
stimulate and embitter. — Hence likewise they will 
avoid the necessity of those overgrown military estab- 
lishments, which under any form of government are 
inauspicious to liberty and which are to be regarded 
as part'cjlarly hostile to Republican hibe-rty; in this 
sense it is, that your union ought to be considered as 
a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the 
one ought to endear to yoa the preservation of ths 
other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive languag*; 
to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the 
continuance of the Union as a primary object of a 
patriotic desire. Is there a doubt, whether a commoa 
government can embrace so large a sphere? — Let eX' 
perience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in 
3uch a case were criminal. We arc authorised to 
hope that a proper organization of the whole, with the 
auxiliary agency ©f governments for the respective 
subdivisions, will afford a harpy issue to the experi-r- 
zw^nu. h is. wtii worxh a. fair and fuU 'xp;tri.-ieiit>. 



2^0 WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL-ADDRETSS. 

With such powerful and obvious motives to union.;, 
affecting all pans of our country, while experience shall 
not have denionstated its impracticability, there will 
always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those, 
who in any quarter may endeavour to weaken its 
bjnds. 

In contemplatingthe causes which may disturb our 
Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern, that any 
ground should have been furnished for characterising 
parties by Geographical discriminations — JS^orthtni 
and SouUiern-^Mlantic and IVesterii; whence de- 
signing men may endeavour to excite a belief that 
there is a real difference of local interests and viewso 
One of the expedients of party to acquire influence, 
within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opi- 
nions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield 
yourselves to<j much against the jealousies and heart 
burnings which spring from these misrepresentations^ 
they tend to render alirn to each other those who ought 
to be bound together by -fraternal affection. The in- 
habitants of our v^eatern country have lately had a use- 
ful lesson on this head: they have seen, in the negoci- 
ation by the Executive,, and in the unanimous ratinca- 
tion by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in 
the universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the 
United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were 
the suspicions propagated among them of the policy 
in the General Government, and in the Atlantic States", 
unfri-ndiy to their interests in regard of the Mississip- 
pi: they have been Witnesses to the formation of two 
treaties, that with Great Britain and "that with Spain, 
which secure to them every thing they could desire, in 
S*espect to our foreign relations; towards confirming 
ttheir prosperity. Willit not be their wisdom to rely 
for the preservation af tliese advantages on the Union 
by which thev were procured; ^ Will they not hence-- 
forth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who 
would sever them from ihcir Br;thr€r. -and^ cw.r:^;^ 
ihem-.'With alitsis? 



WASHINGTON'S FAUEWELL-ADDEESS. 



261 



To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a 
trovernment for the whole is indispensable — No alli- 
ances, however strict, between the parts can be an ad- 
equate substitute; they must inevitable experience the 
infractions and interruptions which all alliunces in all 
times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous 
truth, you have improvedupon your first essa},by th'e 
adoption of a Constitutign of Government btittr cal- 
culated than your former for an intimate Ijnion, and 
for the efficacious management of your common con- 
cerns. This Government, the ofi>»pring of our own 
choicr-, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full 
inrvcstigation and mature deliberalior, completely free 
in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, unit- 
ing securityvvith energy, and containing within itself 
a provision for its own amendment, has a ju^jt claim 
to your confidence and your support. K^r'spect for- 
its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence 
in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundament- 
al maxims of true Liberty. The basis ofourpuliti- 
caljsystems is the right of the people to miake and to 
alter their Constitutions of Government — But, the 
Constitution which at any time exists, ^ill changed 
by an explicit and iuuhentic act of the whole people, 
is sacredly obligatory upon ali. 7'he very idea ot the 
power and the right of the people to establish Govern- 
ment, pre-supposes the duty of every individual to 
obey the established Government. . 

All ob t; uctions to the execution of the Laws, all 
combinations and associations, under whatever plausi- 
ble char-r^cter, with real design to direct, controul, 
counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action 
of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this 
fundamental principle, and, of fatal tendencv. They 
serve to organize faction, to give it an artiliclal and 
extraordinary force— to put in the place of the dele- 
gated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a 
small but artful and enterprizing n^inority of the com^ 
znuniJyj aad- according to -the alternate triumphs' of 



tm 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL-AETDRES^* 



different parties, to make the public administratio'3 the 
mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of 
fashion^ rather tban the organ of consistent and whole- 
soTfie plans digested by coiiamon councils, and modi- 
iitd by mutual interests. 

However combinations or associations of the above 
description may now and then answer popular ends, 
they are likely in the course of time and things, to 
become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious 
and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the 
power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the 
reins of Governmen?;^ destroying afterwards the very 
engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. '• 

Towards the preservation of your Government, and 
the" permancncv of your present happy state, it is re- 
quisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irre- 
gular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but 
also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation 
ypon its principles however specious the pretext. — 
One method of assault may be to effect in the forms' 
of the constitution alterations which will impair the en- 
ergy of the system, ani-» thus to undermine what can- 
uiot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to 
which you may be invited, remember that time and 
ha'oit are at least as necessary to fix the true charac- 
ter of Governments, as of other human institutions — ■ 
that experience is the surest standard, by which to test 
the real tendency of the existing constitution of a 
country — that facility in changes upon tde credit of 
mere hypothesis and opinon, exposes to perpetual 
change, from the endless variety of hvpothesis and 
opinion; and remember, especially, that for the effi- 
cient management of your common interest, in a 
country so extensive as ours, a government of as much 
vigour as is consistent with the perfect security of li- 
berty, is indispensable. Liberty itself will hod in such 
a government, with powers properly distributed and" 
adjusted, its surest guardian. It is indeed littfe else 
ihaQ a name, where the gpvenimeat is too feeble to 



TVASmNGTON'S FABEWELL-ABDBESS. 



S63 



Withstand the enterprizes of faction, to confine each 
membtr of the society within the Unfits prescribed by 
the laws, and so maintain all in the secure and tran- 
quil enjoyment ot the rights of person and properly.?!^.' 

1 have already intimated to you the daiiger of par- 
ties in the state, with a particular reference to the 
founding of them on geographical di^criminationSo 
Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and 
warn you, in the most solemn manner, against the 
baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. 

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseperable from our 
nature, having its roots in the strongest passions oT 
the human mind. It exists under different shapes in 
all governments, more or less stifled, controuled, or 
repressed; but in those of the popular form, it is seen 
in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst 
enemy. 

"^ The alternate domination of one facvion over ano- 
ther; sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to 
party dissention, which, in different ages and countries 
has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself « 
frightful despotism — But this leads at length to a more 
formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and 
miseries, which generally result, gradually incline the 
minds of men to seek security and rtpose m the abso- 
lute power of an individual: and sooner or later the 
chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more 
fortunate than his convpetitors, turns this disposition 
to the purpose of his own elevation^ on the ruins of 
public liberty. 
^ Without looking forward to an extremity of this 
iind, (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out 
of sight) the common and continual mischiefs of the 
spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest 
and duty of a wise people to discourugc and restrain it- 
It serves always to distract the public counsels, and 
enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the 
community with ill- founded jealousies and false 
alarms; kindles the animosity of one part agaiost ano- 



%%% WASHfNGTON'S FA^EWELL-ADBRESS, 

ther; foments occasionally rio": and insurrection. It 
opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, 
which find a facilitated access to the government itself, 
through the channels of party passions. Thus the 
policy and the will of one country are subjected to the 
policy and will of another. 

There is an opinion, that parties in free countries 
are useful checks upon the administration of the gov- 
erninenl, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. 
This, uiti'in certain limits is probably true; and ia 
governmenis of a monarchical cast, patriotism may 
look with m^lulgence, if not with favour, upon the 
spii it of party. But in those of the popular character, 
in govermnents purely elective, it is a spirit not to 
be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is 
certain there will always be enough of that spirit for 
every salutary purpose. And there being constant 
danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of 
public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire 
not to be quenched; it demands an uniform vigilance 
^o prevent its bursting into a fiame, lest instead of 
warming it should consume. 

It is important Vikewist;, that the habits of thinking 
in a free ct^untry should inspire caution, in those cn- 
tfusted with its administration, to confine themselves 
within their respective constitutional spheres, avoid- 
ing in the exercise of the powers of one department 
to -encroach upon another. The spirit of encroach- 
irient tends to consolidate the powers of all the de- 
partments in one, and thus to create, whatever the 
form of. governmcntji a real despotism. A just esti- 
mate of that love of power, and proneness-to abuse it, 
which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient 
to satisfy us of the truth ofj this position. The ne- 
cessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political 
power, by dividing and distributing it into different 
depositories, and constituting each the guardian 6f 
the public weal, against invasions by others, has been 
evinced by experiments ancient and modersj; some df 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL-ADDRESS. 



im 



tbem in our country, and under our own eyes. To pre- 
serve them, must be as necessary as to institute them. 
If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution otT 
modification of the consiiiutional powers be in any 
particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment, 
in a way which the constitution designates. But let 
there be no change by usurpation^ for though this ia 
one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is 
the customary weapon by which free governments are 
destroyed. I'he precedent tiiust always grcady over- 
balance in permanent evil, any partial or transient be° 
nefit which the use can at any time yields 
""^ Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to po° 
iitical prosperity, Religion and Morality arc indispen- 
sable supports»*-In vain would that man claim the 
tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert 

) these great pillars of human happiness, these firmese 

I props of the duties of Men and Citizctns. — The mere 
Poliiicfan, equally with the pious man, ought to reS" 
pect and to cherish them, A volumn could not trace 
> -all their connections with private and public felidtyo 
•Let it simply be asked where is the security for pro- 
perty, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religions 
obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments 
of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with 
caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be 
maintained without religion. Whatever ma> be con- 
ceded to the influence of relined education on minds 
of peculiar structurei reason and experience both for- 
bid us to expect that national morality can prevail iia 
exclusion of religious principle. 

'Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a 

necessary spring of popular government. The rule 
indeed extends With more or less force to every spe- 
cies of free government. Who that is a sincere fricndl 
to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake 
the foundation of the fabric? 

Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, 

-EDEtitutions for the general diffusion of knowlcdgc-^Ito 

83 



tee 



WASHINGTON'S PXREWELL-AGDRESS. 



proportion, as the structure of a government giveg^ 
force to public opinion, it is essential thatpublic opia- 
ion should be enlightened. 

As a very important source of strength and security, 
cherish public credit. One method of preserving it; 
is to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occa- 
tsions of expense by cultivating peace, but remember- 
ing also that timely disbursements to prepare for dan- 
ger frequently prevent .much .greater disbursements to 
repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, 
not only by shunning occasions of expence, but by vig- 
orous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts 
%vhich unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not un- 
generously throwing upon posterity the burthenwhith 
we ourselves ought to bear. — The execution of these 
maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is ne^ 
cessary thatpublic opinion should co-operate. — To 
facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is 
essential that you should practically bear in mind^that 
towards the payment ot debts there .must be revenue, 
that to have revenue there must also be taxes; that 
no taxes can de devised which are not more or less in- 
convenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embar- 
rassment inseparable from the. selection of the proper 
objects (vyhich is always a choice ofdifficulties) ought 
to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of 
the conduct of the government in making it, and for a 
spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining 
revenue which the public exigencies may at any timjs 
dictate. 

">- Observe good faith and justice towards all nations, 
cultivate peace and harmony with all; religion and 
morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be that gcojd 
policv does not equally epjoin it? It will be worthy 
of a free, enlighte,ned, and, ai no distant period, a great 
nation, to give to. mankind the magnanimous and too 
novel example of a people always guided by an exalted 
justice and benevolenee. Who can doubt that, in the 
course of time and things, the fruits of such a plajti 
would richly repay any leinporary advantages whij^ 



■'^'ASHtNGTON'S FAREWELL-ADDliESS. 



ast 



wight be lost by a steady adherance to it? Can it be^ 
that Providence has not connected the permanent feli- 
city of a nation with its virtue? The experiment, at 
least, is lecommeoded by every sentiment which en» 
nobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossi- 
ble by its vices! V ^ 

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more es- 
sential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies 
against particular nations, and passionate attachment© 
for others should be excluded; and that in place of thenji 
just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultiva- 
ted. The nation, which indulges towards another art 
habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness is in sonve 
degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or 
lis affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it 
astray from its dutv and its int^.rest. Antipathy in 
one nation against another disposes each more readily 
to off-:;r insult and injury, to lay hold of s-iight causes of 
umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when acci-= 
dental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence 
frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed and bloody- 
contests. The nation, prompted by ill will and re- 
sentment, son>etimes inrvptls to war the government^ 
contrary to the best calculations of policy. The gg- 
vernmetit somstimes participates in the national pro- 
pensity, and adopts through passion what reason 
would reject; at otbar times, it makes the animosity of 
the nation subservient to projects of hostility instiga° 
ted by pride*, ambition, and other sinister and perni- 
cious motiveso The peace often, sometimes perhaps' 
the liberty, of nations has been the victim* "">?\ 

So likewise, a passionate attachment of one natiotx ^ 
for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy 
for the favourite nation, facilitating .the illusion of aa 
imaginary cornjnon interest, in cases where no rea'i 
common interest exists, andirvfusing into one the en- 
mities of the other, betrays the former into a partici- 
pation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without 
adequate inducement or justification. It leads also 
to aoncessioas to the favourite nation of privileges dg- 



^6S" WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL»ADDREbS. 

med to others, which is apt doubly to injure the tva-. 
sion making the concessionsj by unnecessarily parting 
with what ought to have been retainedi and by excit- 
ing jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in 
the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld: 
and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citi- 
zens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation) 
facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own 
country, without odium, sometimes even with popu- 
larity; gilding with the appearances of a virtuous 
sense of obligation, a commendable deference for pub- 
lic opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the 
base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or 
Ipfatuation. 
A-' As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable 
ways, such attachments are particulari; alarming, to 
the enlightened and independent patrio How many 
opportunities do they afford to tamper w'vh domestic 
factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead 
public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils! 
Sach an attachment ot a small or weak, towards a 
great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the 
satellite of the other. 

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I. 
conjure you to believe me fellow-citizens) the jealousy 
of a free people ought to be conslaiithj awakt; since 
history and experience prove, that foreign intluence is 
one of the most baneful foes of republican govern- 
ment* But that jealousy, to be useful must be impar= 
aial, else it becomes the instrument of the very influ- 
ence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it« 
Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and ex- 
cessive dislike of another, cause those whom they ac- 
tuate to see the danger only on one side, and serve 
to veil and even to second the arts of influence on the 
other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues 
of the favourite, are liable to become suspected and 
odious; while its tools and dupes, usurp the applause 
and confidence of the people to surreiider thtir in- 
terests = 



WASHINGTON'S FA RE WELL- ADDRESS. 



26&^ 



The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to fot- 
e^gQ nations, is in extending our commercial relationSj, 
to have with them as little political connexion as pos- 
sible. So far as we have already formed engagements^ 
3et theni be fululted with- perfect good faith — Here let 
us stop. 
^ Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us- 
laa've none, or a very remote relation. Hence she 
must be engaged in frequent controversies^ the causes ^ 
of which are essentially foreign to. our concernso 
Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in u-s to impli- 
cate ourselves, by artificial ties* in the ordinary vicis- 
^ situdes of her politics, or the ordinary con[ibinatiQn&'^ 
.<^or collisions of her friendships, or enmities. 

"QUr detached and distant situation invites and en- 
ables us to pursue a different courseo^ If we remain^ 
one people, under an efficient government, the period^ 
is not far off, when we may defy material injury fronn 
externaliannoyance: we may take such an attitude. asr« 
will cause the neutrality, we may at any time resolve 
upon, to be scrupulously respectedi when belligerenS; 
nations under the impossibility of making acquisions- 
upon us J wirfnot lightly hazard the giving us provo-- 
cation; when we m^y choose peace or wat, as our in-»' 
terest, guided by justice, shall counseL> 
■>r ^Vhy forego the advantages of- so peculiar a situa- 
tion ? Why qurt our own to standi upon foreigcu 
ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny, with that: 
o) 4ny part of Europe, entangle our peace and pros- 
perity in the toils of European ambition,, rivakhip, ia-^ 
tlerest humour or caprice? 

*Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent a!» 
liaiices with any portion of th^ foreign world; so far, 
Tmean, as "we are now at liberty to do its. for let me 
not be understood as capable of patronising infidelity 
ito existing engagements. . 5 hold the matxim no less 
appiicahte to puhlic than to private sfFairs, that l^ones* 
'vis always the best policy. F repeat it therefore, let 
:ife39-en5agciW2i5ts be observed in thtir genuine a-essaei 



^TO- WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL«ABDEIiS£, 

Bat in my opinion, it is unnessary and would be un^^ 
wise to extend them: 

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable 
establishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we 
may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordU 
Bary emergencieso 

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are 
recommended by policy, humanity, and interesto But 
evtn our commercial polky should hold an equal and 
impartial handi neither seeking nor granting exclu- 
sive favours or preferences; consulting the natural 
course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle 
means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothings 
establishing, with powers so disposed in order to give 
trade a stable course, to de line the rights of our mer= 
chants, and to enable the government to support them^ 
conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present 
circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, bus 
temporary, and liable to be from time to time aban-* 
doncd or varied, as experience and circumstances, 
shall dictate^ constantly keeping in view, that 'tis folly 
•in one nation to look for disintesested favours from 
anotheri that it must pay with a portion of its inde- 
pendence for whatever it may accept under that char° 
acter; that by such acceptance, it may place itself in 
ihe condition of having given equivale'nts for nominal 
favours, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude 
for not giving more. There can be no greater error 
than to expect, or calculate upon real favours from na» 
4ion to nation. ^Tis an illusion which experience 
muse cure, which a just pride ought to discard. 
"2^ In olFering to you my countrymen, these counsels of 
an old tmd affectionate friend, I dare not hope the 
strong and lasting impression i couid wishi that they 
*vill controul the usual current of the passions, or pre- 
vent our nation from running the course which has 
jhitherto marked the destiny of nations: But if I may 
(Even iatter myself, that they may be productive ot 
^ome partial beneit, soijie oeeasionil good^ that the^ 



WASHINGTON'S FAHEWELL-ADDaESS. 



Stl. 



Liiay now and then recur to moderate the fury of p.irty 
spirit, to warn ag4inst the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, 
do guard against the impostures of pretended ]:wjtrio- 
tism; this hope will be a lull recompemce fur the soli- 
citude ot your welfare, by which they have beeti dic- 
tated. 

How far sn the discharge of my official dutie<;, I 
have been guided by the prmciples that have been de- 
lineated, the public records and other evidences of my 
conduct must witness to you and to the world. To 
mysself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I 
have at least believed myself to be guided by them. "' ™ ' 

In relation ro the still subsisting war in Europe, my 
proclamation of the 22d of April, 1793, is the inde^i 
to my Plan, Sanctioned by vour approving voice and 
by that of your Kt-presentatives in both Houses of 
Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually 
governed me; uninfluenced by any attempts to deter 
or divert K^e from it. 

After deliberate examination with the aid of the 
best lights 1 could obtain, I was well satisfied that our 
country, under all ihe circumstances of the case, had 
a right to take, and v/as bound in duty and interest, to 
take a neutral position. Having taken it, I determine 
ed, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain iZ 
with rat>deration, perseverance and firmness. 

The considerations which respect the right to hold 
this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to 
detail, I will only observe that according to my un- 
derstanding of the matter, that right, so far from being 
denied by any of the belligerant powers, has been vir- 
tually admitted by alL 

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be in- 
ferred^ without any thing more, from the obligations 
which justice and humanity impose on every nation, 
in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain invio- 
late the relations of peace and amity, tov/uds other 
isations. 

The inducements of interest for observing that coa- 



n 



^1^ WASHiNeiTO>rS I'AREWELL.ADDRESsv 

duct, will best be referred to your own reflections and?* 
experience. With me, a predcminant motive ha&- 
been to endeavour to gain time to our country, to set- 
tle and mature its yet recent instiutioBS, and to pro- 
gress without interruption, to- that degree of strength 
arid consistency, which is necessary to giye it, human- 
ly speakings the command of its own fortunes. 

Though in i-eviewing the incidents of my adminis- 
tration, I am unconscious of intentional error: I am, 
nevertheless, too sensible of my defects not to think \l 
prc»bable that I may have committed many errorsa 
Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Af» 
mighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they 
may tend. 1 shall also carry with me the hope iha£ 
my country will neyt^r cease to view them with indul- 
gence; and that after forty- five years of my life dedi- 
cated to its service, with an upright zeal, the faulta of 
incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as- 
myself must soon be to the n.ansion of rest. 

Reh ing on- its kindness in this, as in other things^ 
and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is 
so natural to a man, who views in it the natural soil 
of hims^^lf and his progenitors for several generations^ 
I anticipate with pleasing expectation, that retreat in 
tvhich I promise myself to realize without xlloy, thd 
sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my 
felloW'citizens, the benign influence of good laws un-» 
der a free government; the ever favorite object of my 
heart, and the happy reward as 1 trust, of our mutual 
cares, labours^ and dangers." 

G. Washingten^ 

0jriT£D States, irth Sept;. 1796, 



EUL0G1«JM'< 



Mn Fax*s Enloginm on General Wcishingtoni intlw 
Brilhh rarliamtnl — 1 794. 

How infinitely superior must appear the spirit and 
principles oi General Washington, in his late address, 
to Congress, conQpared with the policy of modern: 
Eurcipei'.n courts! Illustr'jous man! derivmg honor less 
from the spUndor of his situation than from the dig- 
nity of his mind; before whom all borrowed greatness, 
sinks into insignificance, and all the princes and poten- 
tates of Europe become little and contemptiblt! He 
has no occasion to have recourse to any tricks of po- 
licy or arts of alarm; his authority has bten sufficient- 
ly supported by the sume means by which it was ac- 
quired, and his conduct has uniformly been character- 
ised by wisdom, moderation, and firmness. He, feel- 
ing gratitude to France for the assistance received 
from her in that great contest which secured the inde- 
pendence of America, did not choose to give up the 
system, of neutrality in favour oi this country. Hav- 
ing once laid down that line oi conduct, which both 
gratitude and policy pointed out as the most proper to 
be pursued, not all the insults or piovocation oi the 
French minister Genet, could at all put biiu out of his. 
way, or bend him from his purpose. Entrusted with 
the care of the welfare of a great people, he did noc 
allow ihe misconduct of an-ther, with respect to him = 
self, for one moment to interrupt the duty which he 
owed to them, or withdraw his attention frotn their 
interests. He had no fear of the JMCohins; he felt no 
alarm from their principles, and considered no precau- 
tion as necessary in order to stop their progress. The 
people over whom he presided, he knew t^> be acquaint- 
ed with their rights and their duties. He trusted to 
their own good sense to defeat the effect of those arts 
which might be employed to cnfiams or mislead thek- 



EULOGIUM, 

minds,* and was sensible that a governnnent could be 
an no danger, while it retained the attachment and 
confidence ofits subjects — attachment^ in this instan&e, 
not blindly adopted, confidence not implicitly given, 
but arising from the conviction of its excellence, and 
the experience of its blessings. I cannot indeed help 
admiring the wisdom and the fortune of this great 
man? not that by the phrase forlinie I mean in iHe 
smallest degree to derogate from his merit. But, not- 
withstanding his extraordinary talents and exalted in- 
tegrity, It must be considered as singularly fortunate, 
that he should havt; experienced a iot^. which so sel- 
dom falls to the portion of humanity, and have passed 
through such a variety of scenes, without stain and 
%vithout reproach, it must indeed create astonish- 
ment, that placed in circumstances so critical; and fill- 
ing for a series of lime, a station so conspicuous, his 
character should never once have been called in ques- 
tion; that he should in no one instance have been ac» 
cused either of improper insolence, or of mean sub» 
mission, in his transaciionj with foreiga nations. It- 
has been reserved for him to run the race oi glorf , 
without experiencing the smalWst intt^rruption to the 
brilliancy of his career. The breath of censure has 
not dared to impe^ich the purity of his conduct, nor 
the eye of env) to raise its malignant glance to the ele- 
vation of his virtues. Such has been the transcend- 
ant merit and th-e unparalleled fate cf this iilustrious- 
man! But if the maxims now held forth were adopt- 
ed, he who now ranks as the asserter of his couniry^s 
freedom, and the guardian of its interests and h6nor, 
woul i, be deemed to have disregarded and betrayed 
that country, and to have entailed Upon himself indel- 
ible reproach. How did he act when insulted by Genet? 
Did he consider it as- necessary fo avenge himself for 
the miscondi\ct or madness of an individual, by in- 
Vf'lving^ •« whole continent in the horrors c>f war? No| 
he contented himself with procuring satisfaction for 
lbs insulJj by causing Genet to be recalled; aod thuc 



■: EtJLOGm*L 2.% 

at ones consulted bis own dignity and the interests of 
bis country. Happy Americans! while the whirl- 
wind files over on^ quarter of the globe, and spreads 
every where desolation, you remain protected froiti 
its baneful effects, by your own virtues and the wis° 
dom of your government. Separated from Europe 
by an immense ocean, you feel not the effects of those 
prejudices and passions which convert the boasted 
seat of civilization into scenes of horror and blood- 
shed. You profit by the folly and madness of the 
contending nations, and afford in your more congenial 
clime an asylum to those blessings and virtues which 
they wantonly contemn, or wickedly exclude from 
their bosom! Cultivating the arts of peace under the 
influence of freedom, you advance by rapid strides to 
opulence and distinction; and if by any accident you 
should be compelled to take part in the present unhap» 
py contest, if you should find it necessary to avenge 
insult, or repel injury, the world will bear witness tc 
the equity of your sentiments and the moderation of 
your views; and the success of your arms will lio 
doubt; be proportioned to the justice of your- cause? 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




